Los Angeles man arrested for stolen car, possession of vehicle burglary tools

A man caught allegedly driving a stolen car and possessing vehicle-burglary tools was arrested Friday, police said.

An officer was patrolling near Los Feliz Road and Gardena Avenue when his automatic license-plate reader scanned the plate of a vehicle driving by and it registered as stolen, said Glendale Police spokeswoman Tahnee Lightfoot.

At Central Avenue and Cypress Street, the officer pulled over the 1996 Honda Accord sedan, driven by Erick Moya, 20, of Los Angeles, she said. There was also an unidentified 48-year-old passenger in the vehicle.

A search at the scene turned up a screwdriver in Moya’s front pants pocket as well as a set of four keys, all for different vehicle makes, that were shaved down for the purpose of breaking into cars, Lightfoot said.

After the officer verified the car was stolen, Moya was taken into custody on suspicion of driving of a stolen vehicle as well as possessing car-burglary tools.

He was released later that day on $35,000 bail.

The passenger was not connected to the incident and was released at the scene, Lightfoot said.