Sting Ploy Nets Piles of Loot, 115 Arrests

Five South Bay police agencies concluded a nine-month sting operation Saturday that netted 115 suspects and nearly $3 million in allegedly stolen property--including Mercedes-Benzes and Porsches that undercover officers bought for $400 or less, officers said.

Among the suspects were business people who allegedly fenced stolen goods and employees of major firms who are charged with stealing company property and “selling it out the back door.” Officers also arrested Los Angeles gang members who, in addition to selling stolen goods, allegedly offered murder contracts at $8,000 per victim.

One murder suspect was persuaded to reenact his crime in front of a hidden camera, officers said. In the course of the sting, conducted out of a store called “SOS Video Repair” in Hawthorne, undercover officers also foiled a kidnap-torture contract arranged by Los Angeles gang members, officers said. Officials would not provide the address of the store.

‘3 Cents on the Dollar’

“A whole lot of them were desperate to get money to feed a drug habit,” said Hawthorne Police Lt. Herb Mundon, who helped direct the sting for the South Bay Regional Property Recovery Program. “We were able to buy the stuff for about 3 cents on the dollar.” Mundon said the sting operation involved about a dozen undercover officers from police departments in Hawthorne, Torrance, Gardena, El Segundo and Inglewood.

About 60 officers assisted by the California Highway Patrol arrested 35 suspects Saturday and seized allegedly stolen property in raids in the South Bay, East Los Angeles, Compton, the San Fernando Valley and Orange County, he said.

Mundon said the rest of the 115 suspects were picked up earlier, mostly in the last week--largely to prevent them from stealing more property before the sting operation could be wound up.

“Some of these people were really prolific thieves,” he said. “They would sell us something and be back the next day with more. We decided to rip them off ahead of time to stop them from ripping off more citizens.”

Mundon said the sting covered about 250 transactions that led to the purchase or seizure of $2.8 million in stolen goods. A year ago, a similar operation netted about $1 million and 60 suspects, he said.

“Unfortunately, there are more thieves and burglars out there than we can handle,” he said. “But at least we are taking another 100 or so out of action for awhile. The rest of the crooks can count on us continuing these stings, so they’d better be careful they don’t sell their stuff to undercover officers.”

Hawthorne police spokesman Tom Quintana said the seized property included 70 vehicles, 80 cellular phones, computers, a ski boat, stolen freight shipments, cameras, jewelry, credit cards and “60 pounds of frozen fish.”

“It’s just about anything that can be stolen and converted into cash,” he said. The property will be returned to its owners when they can be located, he said.

Mundon said the suspects arrested Saturday were booked at the Hawthorne station and then arraigned at courts in Inglewood and Torrance. Bail for burglary and thefts runs from $4,000 to $15,000, depending on the number of counts and criminal records of the suspects, he said.