Local News in Brief : 3 Suspects Seized in Car-Theft Ring Involving 50 Teen-Agers

Three people were held Monday in connection with a ring of at least 50 teen-agers responsible for as many as 100 auto thefts or burglaries in the past year in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles police said.

Those arrested in a Granada Hills motel room included Thanh Nguyen, 28, who police said was a leader of the ring. He was being held on suspicion of receiving stolen property, Detective Ed Pikor said.

Nguyen’s brother, Chin Nguyen, is being sought on an arrest warrant on the same allegation, Pikor said.

Also arrested at the motel were two Reseda teen-agers, a 16-year-old girl, who was held on suspicion of grand theft of an automobile, and a 17-year-old boy, held on suspicion of receiving stolen property, Pikor said.

At least 25 others believed linked to the Nguyen brothers, some as young as 13, have been arrested for auto theft in the past year, Pikor said. There are about 25 other members of the ring who have not yet been apprehended, he said.

The ring specializes in thefts of Toyotas in the West Valley, he said.

The Nguyen brothers would recruit the teen-agers at parties, Pikor said, and “send them out with experienced car burglars to hit a given area.” The teen-agers, he said, “are taught how to hit cars, and they bring the property back to the two adults. The two adults then sell the property; they reap most of the profit, and the kids get a piece of the action.”

Investigators are not certain what is done with the stolen cars, but speculate that the interiors are stripped and the parts sold at low prices to auto body shops, Pikor said.

Six people were arrested at the Granada Hills motel on Monday, but police released three of them, Pikor said. Thanh Nguyen was living at the motel, he said.

At the motel, police found a stolen Toyota pickup truck, several car stereo systems that appeared to have been recently stolen, and an electronic typewriter, Pikor said. Thanh Nguyen had about $1,700 on him, he said.

Thanh Nguyen was being held Monday evening in lieu of $10,000 bail, and the two teen-agers were being held in juvenile hall in Sylmar, Pikor said.