LA PUENTE : Thousands of Videotapes Seized by Police in Garage

More than 4,000 videotaped movies and blanks, plus 26 videocassette recorders, were seized by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies who stumbled upon an alleged video pirating operation in a La Puente garage.

The tapes included first-run action movies, some with Disney and Paramount studio labels, investigators said Tuesday.

Deputies discovered the operation while investigating what they thought was a burglary in progress at 8:50 p.m. Monday in an alley in the 16200 block of Abbey Street, a sheriff’s spokesman said. A man was spotted using a hole in a back fence to carry boxes to a house from a parked car. Deputies stopped him and saw the videocassette recorders inside the garage.

Arrested on suspicion of copyright infringement were Jesus Perez, 28, of Montebello, and Juan Salazar, 31, of La Puente. Both were held in County Jail in lieu of $25,000 bail. A third man who drove off in a truck as deputies arrived is being sought.