LOS ANGELES : Transit Police Arrest 8 in Bus-Transfer Scheme

RTD transit police officers arrested eight people Friday on suspicion of running a stolen bus-transfer operation, one of a number of groups selling counterfeit or stolen passes costing the RTD about $2 million a year, officials said.

Officers confiscated $15,000 in cash and 42 books of stolen RTD bus transfers with a value of more than $2,000. Police have arrested 134 people this year for selling stolen transfers or forged bus passes, said RTD Police Chief Sharon Papa. Friday’s arrests were the culmination of a five-week investigation.

Most of the illegal transfers were sold at about half the legitimate price at bus stops in downtown Los Angeles, Papa said. Last month about 25 people were cited--and face fines of up to $250--for buying the stolen bus transfers. Illegal sales recently have spread to Huntington Park and the San Fernando Valley, she said.