SATICOY : Stolen Car Parts Seized; 2 Arrested

Ventura County sheriff’s deputies arrested two men in Saticoy Wednesday and seized the dismantled remains of five Porsche 911 sports cars that reportedly had been stolen in Los Angeles earlier this year.

Jeremy Coleman, 20, of San Pedro and John Hughes, 25, of Thousand Oaks were booked into Ventura County Jail on suspicion of automobile theft and conspiracy to sell stolen merchandise, Sheriff’s Detective Kevin Marple said.

Deputy Craig Adford found the pair unloading car parts from a truck into a storage building on Jacinto Way, Marple said. When Adford asked Coleman what he was doing, he quickly closed the truck and fled into the building, leaving the doors ajar, Marple said.

When Adford looked in, he saw the dismantled Porsches--valued at about $125,000 by an investigator from the National Automobile Theft Bureau--along with bolt cutters, other tools, and engine and body parts, Marple said.

Sheriff’s deputies and California Highway Patrol officers who served a search warrant Wednesday morning also found paperwork and bookkeeping records, Marple said.

“This was a very large operation,” Marple said. “I don’t think a chop shop of this magnitude goes on very often.”

Investigators sorted and catalogued tires, quarter panels, hoods, headlights, engines and other parts.

Coleman and Hill were being held in lieu of $5,000 bail each on suspicion of grand theft. Hill also is suspected of giving false information to a police officer.