Sports Car Seats Targeted, Police Say : $200,000 in Auto Parts Seized in Probe

Police seized an estimated $200,000 in auto parts Friday and arrested three North Hollywood residents suspected of specializing in receiving stolen seats from Toyota Supras, authorities said.

Undercover officers arrested Jeffrey Green, 28, at his auto dismantling and body shop in the 12900 block of Saticoy Street in Van Nuys about 11:30 a.m., Detective John Metcalf said. The arrest took place minutes after Green accepted three sets of seats from an undercover officer and an unidentified man in a transaction that was videotaped and tape-recorded, Metcalf said.

Police arrested Philip Rebaub, 21, and Marla Horrocks, 47, after Rebaub picked up the seats at Green’s shop and drove them to a house in the 12600 block of Tiara Street in North Hollywood, Metcalf said.

At the house, more than a dozen officers, including members of a task force known as the Cobra Corps, found the two-car garage filled with auto seats, mostly from Supras, and a storage shed in the back yard containing car door upholstery panels and carpeting, police said. Officers also confiscated several auto stereos, police said.

About 100 seats were recovered at Green’s shop and the house, Metcalf said.

Green, Rebaub and Horrocks were held on $5,000 bail each at Van Nuys Jail on suspicion of receiving stolen property, Metcalf said.

The investigation began early this week on a tip from a man suspected in the theft of seats and a handgun from a Los Angeles deputy district attorney’s car, Sgt. Dave Dempsey said.

Theft and parts-stripping of Toyota Supras has risen sharply in the past year and a half, and Southern California law enforcement agencies, including the California Highway Patrol, have met to discuss the problem, Metcalf said.

Police suspect that Green paid thieves between $350 and $700 for pairs of front seats, then resold them to auto dealers for between $1,800 and $2,000. A pair of new seats would retail for about $3,000, Metcalf said.

“We don’t have any reason to suspect any of the dealerships,” Metcalf said.