Arrests Made in Car Theft Ring, Police Say

Police have broken up a ring of thieves who sold stolen cars to unsuspecting buyers, then stole the same cars again for resale, authorities said Tuesday.

Four adults and five juveniles have been arrested in the ring, which is accused of stealing hundreds of cars but preferred Honda Accords.

The thieves placed ads in area newspapers and mounted “For Sale” signs in car windows to advertise the merchandise, police said.

“Apparently, when they sold the vehicles they would follow the buyers home and note where the cars were parked,” said Sgt. Dwayne Bruce, head of the Glendale Police Department’s auto theft unit. The ring waited a few days to a few weeks before “re-stealing” the cars, he said.

The buyers often phoned police to report the thefts but, in some cases, realized the cars they had purchased were stolen when they tried to register them at state Department of Motor Vehicles offices, Bruce said.

“The buyers, who used cash to pay for the cars, were unsuspecting,” Bruce said. “They found the prices of the cars irresistible. Say a $12,000 Honda was being sold for $6,000. It was too good to pass up.”

Prices for the stolen cars ranged from $5,000 to $7,000, he said.

Though the adults arrested now face four counts of auto theft each, investigators said the inquiry is continuing.

All four adults have entered not guilty pleas. They are Ana Bonilla, 31; Nilton Gomez, 35; Carlos Aguilar, 24, and Daniel Galdamis, 26. All gave police Los Angeles addresses, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

“It’s a large operation that we’re still trying to piece together,” said Sgt. Rick Young of the Glendale Police Department.

“We’re not exactly sure how they got the kids to do this for them or how much they did,” Young said. “But the kids were involved; they were asked by the men if they wanted to do it and they did.”

The juveniles, four boys and a girl, are being held in Eastlake Juvenile Hall pending their next court appearance and face charges that include auto theft and conspiracy to steal an automobile, Young said.

Though police have recovered only seven stolen cars, they believe hundreds more remain to be recovered, Young said.

The case began last week when a patrolman in Glendale spotted the youths attempting to steal a Honda Accord, Young said. The Honda Accord model, he added, seemed to be their car of choice; of the seven cars recovered, Young said, two were Accords.

“The investigation is continuing,” Bruce said, “so I can’t reveal too much. I don’t want our informant to end up dead in an alley.”

Glendale police reported that 1,060 vehicles were stolen in 1996; 904 vehicles have been stolen so far this year, according to Young. The most popular vehicles stolen in Glendale, he said, are Toyota pickup trucks, Honda Accords and Chevrolet Caprices.

In 1996, 88% of the 235,282 vehicles stolen in the state were recovered, according to the California Highway Patrol. Nationally, 92% of cars and 85% of trucks and vans stolen are recovered, according to CHP data.

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Auto Theft

According to the California Highway Patrol, the top ten stolen automobiles in California in 1996 were:

1. Oldsmobile Cutlass: Model Year 1984

2. Honda Accord: Model Year 1991

3. Honda Accord: Model Year 1990

4. Toyota Corolla: Model Year 1980 5. Toyota Corolla: Model Year 1981

6. Oldsmobile Cutlass: Model Year 1983

7. Oldsmobile Cutlass: Model Year 1985

8. Toyota Camry: Model Year 1989

9. Oldsmobile Cutlass: Model Year 1981

10. Honda Accord: Model Year 1992