A Clay Township man facing trial in Butler County for allegedly swapping the engine from a minivan he rented with an engine from a van he purchased took the witness stand Wednesday. He said state police used a drill to remove the serial number from the engine in the purchased van while he was in handcuffs.

The Common Pleas Court trial of Steven B. Ewida, 35, continued for a second day Wednesday. He is facing felony charges of operating a vehicle chop shop, altering or destroying a vehicle identification number, disposition of a vehicle or part with an altered vehicle identification number, theft and receiving stolen property.

Ewida and his fiancé, Paula Gabriel, who live together, disputed some of the testimony state police gave Tuesday.

Ewida said he rented a 2019 Dodge Caravan from Enterprise Rent-A-Car in Monroeville, Allegheny County on April 30, 2020, but the minivan emitted smoke and was underpowered.

He said he rented the minivan for a week to go on a road trip with Gabriel, but they decided not to go. He said he had a tow truck take the minivan back to Enterprise because it wasn’t running. No one at Enterprise said anything about the condition of the minivan after it arrived, he said.

On May 19, Ewida said he was at home and went outside to get a tool when a man driving a green mini van pulled into his driveway and asked him who he was and what he was doing. The man was wearing plain clothes and didn’t immediately identify himself, but eventually said he was a state trooper, he said.

Ewida, who speaks with an accent, said the trooper asked him where he is originally from.

“He was aggressive,” Ewida said.

Ewida said he became confrontational with the trooper and told him to leave. He said the trooper did not have a warrant to search the property or arrest him.

Several other troopers arrived a few minutes later driving pickup trucks and they tore down a tent he had put around a 2016 Dodge ProMaster cargo van in his driveway.

Ewida said he told the troopers to leave and they placed him in handcuffs.

One of the troopers dismantled the front end of the ProMaster and then drilled out the vehicle identification number on the engine after discovering it was the correct number.

“He started drilling it out,” Ewida said.

As the troopers accused him of running a chop shop and took him away, he said he threatened to sue them and told Gabriel to call a lawyer.

He said troopers kicked and damaged a garage door, broke a window and pulled the doorknob off a door.

Ewida said the ProMaster overheated because it was missing a belt, its alternator didn’t work, it had bald tires and the brakes didn’t work.

He said the troopers insulted his Egyptian heritage, accused him of being a member of ISIS and not being a U.S. citizen and threatened to have him deported. Ewida said he has been a citizen since 2018.

Gabriel testified before Ewida and gave similar testimony.

Four troopers who went to Ewida’s home testified Tuesday. They said they are members of the Western Region Auto Theft Task Force.

The first trooper who arrived at Ewida’s home said Ewida was working on the ProMaster when he arrived. Other troopers said part of the tent around the vehicle was rolled up, exposing the front of the vehicle.

The lead investigator, Trooper Jason Morgan, said the engine identification number had been ground off the engine in the ProMaster.

All the troopers said Ewida cooperated with them and they didn’t threaten him or alter the ProMaster. Troopers said they conducted a “knock and talk” at Ewida’s home without a search warrant.

An Enterprise employee testified Tuesday, saying said the engine in the minivan wasn’t the one that belonged in it.

The service manager of a Dodge dealership in Monroeville, where Enterprise had the minivan towed to find out why it wasn’t running and leaked fluids, also said the engine wasn’t the one that came with it and the engine identification number had been ground off.

The trial resumes Thursday.