LOCAL : Pacoima Auto Yard Owners Arrested

The co-owners of a Pacoima auto parts yard were arrested on suspicion of possession of stolen property when detectives on a routine inspection found what they called a “chop shop” where stolen cars are stripped and the pieces sold as parts, Los Angeles police said this morning.

Vyacheslav Gorin, 31, and Lonya Palatnik, 35, both of West Hollywood, were arrested Wednesday afternoon at their business, All-In-One Auto Dismantlers, in the 12200 block of Montague Street.

Detective Mike Miller said a task force of auto theft investigators began Wednesday a routine program of spot-checking salvage yards in the San Fernando Valley for stolen cars and parts. All-In-One was the third yard checked during the day, and detectives found parts from seven stolen cars stacked at the yard, Miller said.

Among them were the seats, engine, transmission, bumper and steering wheel of a 1985 Honda Prelude that had been stolen four days earlier in Montebello, Miller said.

Gorin and Palatnik were taken to the Foothill Division Jail and later released on $5,000 bail each, Miller said.