Auto Thieves Cashing In on Junkyard Dogs
In August, police cracked down on a Van Nuys auto theft ring that used auto junkyards to satisfy its thirst for certain American sports cars.
The thieves stripped identification numbers from wrecked Firebirds, Camaros and Fieros that investigators believe were bought at the yards, then used the numbers to register 29 stolen cars of the same models.
Weeks later, in another incident, police testified that a North Hollywood auto-wrecking firm knowingly helped a theft ring with a different taste in automobiles--Toyota Supras--by receiving a dozen of the stolen cars from the ring.
Thus continued the ongoing battle between a small clan of auto-theft detectives and operators of what the public calls junkyards. Police say many of the San Fernando Valley’s more than 200 salvage and dismantling yards warehouse and sell stolen cars, stolen parts or wrecked autos used to gain title to stolen vehicles.
“There’s all kinds of stuff going on,” said Phil Chlopek, senior investigator for the state Department of Motor Vehicles’ Arleta office. “If you dig hard enough, you’re going to find a lot of dirt wherever there are junkyards. And the valley has a lot of junkyards.”
10,000 Never Recovered
Salvage yards that buy and sell auto parts act as magnets, attracting thieves looking to sell what they have stolen, police officers say. Of the 85,000 cars reported stolen in Los Angeles County last year, 10,000 were never recovered. Don Higgins, an auto theft detective for the Los Angeles Police Department’s Foothill Division, said he believes that millions of dollars in parts from those vehicles can be found amid the debris in the San Fernando Valley’s junkyards.
Stolen auto parts trafficking is thought to be particularly acute in Sun Valley and Pacoima, where dismantling operations dot the major streets. The practice also is believed to flourish in other parts of Los Angeles County, including Wilmington, the home of hundreds of additional dismantling operations.
Although some efforts are made to stem the problem by toughening up regulations concerning the resale of junked cars, controlling the trafficking of stolen autos is difficult largely because of a rising number of thefts statewide, police said.
Low Priority
Police say several factors explain this trend, including the soaring value of stolen car parts, increasing numbers of foreign cars made with easily disassembled modular parts and the knowledge among thieves that auto theft is a “low-risk” crime. Also, auto theft generally is low on the priority list for law enforcement agencies, who focus resources on major crimes.
Cases involving salvage yards in which authorities have discovered stolen vehicles and stripped parts clutter valley courts. The owners of four yards near Sun Valley are now being tried for grand theft auto and other offenses.
Two years ago, a Sun Valley junk dealer was convicted of receiving at least 70 stolen cars, ranging from Mercedes-Benzes to Chevrolets, police say.
The unscrupulous junk dealer is not a new phenomenon. Various agencies--including the FBI, local police and the Department of Motor Vehicles--for at least 30 years have been inspecting salvage yards suspected of selling purloined auto parts. But police say the problem has grown dramatically worse in recent years.
Authorities say three types of improprieties are most commonly committed by salvage dealers. First, undervalued, stolen auto parts are knowingly purchased from thieves and then sold at prices marked up to normal levels. Second, dealers frequently buy entire stolen cars, dismantle them, crush and dispose of the frames (containing traceable vehicle identifications) and then sell the parts.
Third, thieves who have stolen a vehicle sometimes use junkyards to purchase wrecked versions of the same model, which they want only for the vehicle identification number (VIN), some junk dealers say. After buying the scrap, they remove the federally required VIN, usually located on a door or dashboard, and place it on the new stolen cars.
ID Numbers Switched
The “VIN switch” enables a thief to register a stolen car as salvage, since DMV computers show the identification number belongs to a wrecked car, police say. The thief files paper work with the DMV, claiming that he has bought the wreck and restored it to working condition. The thief pays registration fees, subjects the car to a road test, gains legal title to the vehicle and sells it to an unsuspecting buyer.
Mike Golembesky, manager of AAA Foreign Auto in Sun Valley, said dismantlers often are not culpable when this last scenario unfolds.
“I’m not supposed to know the background of all my customers and what they intend to do with what I sell them,” Golembesky said.
“Still,” he added, “if someone comes here and wants to buy a car I know can’t be restored, then something definitely isn’t on the up and up.”
Most of the yard owners and dismantlers interviewed downplayed the extent to which their industry is plagued by the illegal trafficking.
Not Common Practice
“It’s not all that common at all,” says Peter Asmar of Atomic Auto Wreck in Sun Valley. “If you accept stolen parts, you quickly get a bad reputation. When that happens, other yards won’t deal with you, and you lose contracts.”
Bradley Scott, vice president of Valley Auto Dismantlers Assn., said dishonest dismantling firms “are definitely the exception to the rule.” He said he believes that crooks who want to unload stolen cars do not go to licensed dismantlers but rather to “chop shops”--places where stolen cars are dismantled for the parts.
“It’s the maverick dismantler who is unethical out there,” Scott says. “They’re private individuals who operate largely out of garages.”
Thieves can unload stolen parts and buy wrecked vehicles without soliciting the services of an established dismantler, Scott said. For instance, anyone can list stolen goods in classified advertising publications without fear of discovery. In addition, junked cars wanted for the “VIN switch” can be obtained at insurance company auctions open to the general public.
Nevertheless, police officers and a few dealers contend that a significant number of established salvage and dismantling operations knowingly buy and sell hot auto parts.
10% Called Dishonest
“I can think, off the top of my head, of seven or eight dealers in the valley, about 10% of the local yards,” said Golembesky.
Randy Ballin, an investigator with the California Highway Patrol vehicle theft unit, added: “I would say the majority of shops at one time, either knowingly or unknowingly, would buy stolen parts” for resale because they are so cheap.
In recent years, officials have struggled to control the salvage industry by making it more difficult to switch VIN numbers and by toughening up limp regulations concerning the resale of wrecked cars, police and auto parts dealers say.
Beginning with 1986 models, federal law required auto manufacturers to place a VIN number on every major component in a car, not just the dashboard or door. Valley Auto Dismantler Assn.’s Scott said some companies manufacture models with “laser beam” identification numbers, which cannot be routinely removed. In addition, more cars have hidden VINs with locations supposedly known only by the police.
“In 20 years, if all cars are like that, things will be a lot easier for us,” Higgins said.
New Laws Help
New state regulations also hinder the exchange of stolen vehicles. A few years ago, for example, the state began requiring salvage yards to obtain “pink slips” of cars they purchased to demonstrate ownership. Dealers must register the purchase with the DMV so the validity of ownership can be checked.
Golembesky said, however, that a shrewd dealer can “pretty easily” work his way around these types of regulations. For example, by paying thieves cash for stolen goods and not recording transactions in his book, the pink slip regulation can be disregarded, dealers say.
Golembesky said the only way to significantly reduce auto theft and trafficking is to make re-registering and operating salvaged cars illegal.
“Then you wouldn’t have car thieves buying them from us and fixing them. . . . They wouldn’t be able to use them on the street. If you ever pass a law like that, car theft would go down unbelievably.”
Despite recent efforts, containing the sale of stolen autos in junkyards is increasingly difficult, largely because the number of stolen cars has climbed markedly--about 20% in the last five years, said Lt. Don Henderson of the CHP. In California, a record number of car thefts (178,597) were reported in 1985.
Thefts Double
Police officers said the number of cars stolen around Sun Valley and Pacoima has doubled since 1970.
“We run from report to report,” said Detective Brad Johnson. “It just doesn’t stop.”
One reason for the spiraling number of thefts is an increased value of auto parts, the police say. Golembesky said the seats of a Toyota sports car, worth a few hundred dollars 10 years ago, now have a street value of $2,500.
“There’s an incredible incentive to steal,” Higgins said.
According to investigators at CHP, the flood of foreign cars--many now made with easily disassembled “modular” components--also are tempting to thieves.
“It’s easier to take these foreign cars apart, and there’s more of them around,” said Randy Ballin, an investigator with the CHP. He said the cars most often stolen are late-model BMWs, Mercedeses, Porsches, Toyota Celicas and Nissan Zs, most of which are constructed with modular parts.
Ballin also contended that there are few incentives for criminals not to steal because courts are lenient on auto thieves.
Penalties Are Minor
“Auto theft is still a low-risk crime,” he said. “The chances of getting caught and prosecuted are slim. Even if you’re convicted, the penalties are minor.”
For example, a Sun Valley junk dealer caught with 70 stolen cars received probation.
Virtually all officials questioned emphasized that adequate surveying of junkyards is impossible due to the shortage of auto-theft detectives.
Despite the doubling of stolen cars in the Sun Valley-Pacoima area, the number of Foothill Division auto detectives has remained at four since 1966, Higgins said. The number of CHP auto theft investigators in Southern California has been slashed in half in recent years from 24 to 11, a CHP spokeswoman said.
“The problem is so difficult for us to contain. In our area alone there are 100 known thieves,” Higgins added. “These are guys who steal them for their parts, not guys who steal for a joy ride and then get rid of the thing.”
A DMV official said he inspects Sun Valley area salvage yards about once every four months. But the owner of one salvage yard, not speaking of himself, said, “A lot of selling of stolen parts can go on in between visits.”
