More Than 20 Stolen Cars Discovered in Wrecking Yard

More than 20 stolen cars being dismantled for parts were found Friday at the B and B Auto Wrecking yard in Pacoima, the largest number of stolen cars ever found in a San Fernando Valley junkyard, Los Angeles police reported.

The junkyard’s owner, Chris Nam, 51, of North Hollywood was arrested on suspicion of grand theft and receiving stolen property, said LAPD Lt. Al Corella, who heads a joint LAPD-California Highway Patrol task force to combat auto theft in the Valley.

Although nearly every salvage yard in the Valley has at one time or another destroyed a stolen car, most junkyard operators say they would never knowingly do so. And police say they rarely encounter junkyard dealers who deliberately collaborate with car thieves. But Corella said Nam knew he was destroying stolen cars.

Many yards require Department of Motor Vehicle junk slips--which can only be obtained with an ownership certificate--before they buy a car for destruction.

Sometimes thieves forge junk slips that fool even the salvage yard owners, but police did not find any junk slips--real or forged--in the search Friday, Corella said.

The cars included many 1988 and 1989 model American and imported cars. A Cadillac that had been cut up had only 19,000 miles on the odometer. Some cars were stolen from Ventura County and Malibu, Corella said.

One car had been stolen on April 1, but had already been dismantled, Corella said.

The mid-morning investigation was conducted under a state law that allows police to search wrecking yards without warrants.