Vendor Arrested in Sale of Bootleg Tapes
A Carson man was arrested Wednesday at the Lancaster Flea Market for allegedly selling pirated musical recordings and about 5,000 tape cassettes were confiscated, sheriff’s deputies said.
Cletus Anderson, 49, was arrested after detectives made a routine walk through the flea market at 155 E. Avenue I, Detective Bill Higgins said.
Higgins said that while posing as a customer and examining the tapes, he noticed that although they appeared to be professionally packaged, the covers contained no recording company names or photos of the artists. The tapes, featuring singers such as Prince, Luther Vandross and Quincy Jones, were being sold three for $10, he said.
Higgins returned to his office and called an investigator for the Recording Industry Assn. of America, who listened to a description of the tapes and said they were not legitimate.
“We went back to the flea market and Anderson was packing his van,” Higgins said. “We arrested him and obtained 5,000 pirated tapes.”
Higgins said Anderson was arrested on suspicion of selling tapes that do not disclose the origin of their recording.
The biggest entertainment stories
Get our big stories about Hollywood, film, television, music, arts, culture and more right in your inbox as soon as they publish.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
