Valley-Russia Car Theft Ring Is Uncovered

An arrest for shoplifting a pair of shoes from a Price Club uncovered a thief who has been shipping stolen cars from the San Fernando Valley to Russia, Burbank police said Thursday.

At least one Honda stolen in the West Valley appears to have been shipped to Russia already and at least three others were found in the harbor area, sealed in crates for the sea voyage, police said.

Burbank officers arrested Oleg Kotlyarevsky, 26, on suspicion of shoplifting Tuesday, then discovered $40,000 worth of cocaine and a briefcase containing at least one forged DMV title and other blank DMV forms in his car, police spokesmen said.

Based on the documents discovered, detectives suspect that Kotlyarevsky bought an old Honda from a wrecking yard and had it towed to a Van Nuys auto body shop, where the car’s vehicle identification number was switched to a Honda stolen from the West Valley area, of a similar year and model, Detective Craig Ratliff said.

Kotlyarevsky is suspected of then re-registering the stolen Honda with the wrecked car’s identification number and using the documentation to ship the car to an unknown destination in Russia, Ratliff said.

“He travels back and forth to Russia,” Ratliff said.

After serving a search warrant at an undisclosed location in San Pedro on Thursday, detectives also found four vehicles in huge crates destined for shipment to Russia. Record checks showed that three of the cars had been stolen, including a Jeep Cherokee taken from Santa Ana, Sgt. Bob Brode said.

“The indication we have is that one car is actually on the high seas now . . . on its way to Russia,” Ratliff said. U.S. Customs officials have been notified that the car should be returned to Los Angeles where it will be determined whether it has been reported stolen, he said.

Ratliff said it was unknown how long Kotlyarevsky had been exporting stolen cars or how extensive his operation was. No other arrests have been made, he said.

Brode said that in addition to DMV documents, officers also discovered what appeared to be Russian vehicle registration forms in Kotlyarevsky’s briefcase.

Officers initially arrested Kotlyarevsky and Julia Svikschevski, 24, of Russia, for trying to steal a pair of shoes from the Price Club on Sherman Way, but when officers searched Kotlyarevsky’s Honda Prelude they discovered 3 pounds of cocaine, with an estimated street value of $40,000, police said. Officers also found $2,200 in cash on Kotlyarevsky, police said.

Svikschevski was released from police custody. Kotlyarevsky pleaded not guilty Thursday in Burbank Municipal Court to possession of a controlled substance for purposes of sale and being in possession of a falsified vehicle registration, Deputy Dist. Atty. Elizabeth Siegmund said. He is being held in lieu of $500,000 bail.

“It is the first Russian drug transporter I’ve dealt with,” Siegmund said. “It’s certainly not the standard case.”

Kotlyarevsky is scheduled to return to Burbank Municipal Court on March 8 for a bail hearing and March 15 for a preliminary hearing, she said.

Siegmund said additional charges are expected to be filed against Kotlyarevsky. “It’s my understanding that more charges will be filed on a federal level involving exporting stolen vehicles,” she said.

Officers seized a passport and a one-way ticket to Russia from Kotlyarevsky when he was arrested, Siegmund said. During Thursday’s arraignment, Kotlyarevsky’s defense attorney described him as an American citizen and as a highly educated electrical engineer with no past criminal record, Siegmund said.

Ratliff said an investigation of Continental Motors, the auto body shop Kotlyarevsky says he owns, determined that it is a small rented area on Kester Avenue in Van Nuys.