LAPD Officer Luis Muro, left, speaks with Lydia Patron, an investigator with the Contractors State License Board, during the sting operation in Van Nuys. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
Patron, who posed as a Van Nuys homeowner in the sting, walks with Miguel Angel Trejo, who was cited for bidding on work without a contractor’s license. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
David Arellano, who doesn’t have a contractor’s license, steps into the Van Nuys home’s garage, where LAPD Officer David Brandsetter was waiting for him. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
LAPD officers can be seen in the backyard of the Van Nuys home used in the sting operation. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
LAPD Officer Raul Olivares takes a man who offered to paint the house, allegedly without a contractor’s license, to the Van Nuys police station to be identified. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
Investigators take the photo of a man cited in the sting operation. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
Joseph Sanchez sits in the back of an LAPD patrol car after walking into the undercover sting operation. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
