2 Men Arrested in Harley ‘Chop Shop’ Operation

Seated inside a Sun Valley restaurant at 12:30 Saturday morning, Charles Latham watched a man steal his Harley-Davidson motorcycle from the parking lot.

Despite efforts by the thief’s accomplice to distract him, Latham witnessed the crime and called police, who later arrested two men on suspicion of operating a “chop shop” specializing in the pricey bikes, said Los Angeles Police Det. Ken Belt, field supervisor of the Valley auto theft unit.

Three intact Harley-Davidsons and parts from about 15 were seized from one suspect’s Lake View Terrace garage, Belt said.

“This operation has been going on for about a year,” he said, adding that there has been a recent increase in the theft of Harley-Davidsons along the Ventura Boulevard corridor.

“Probably $250,000 [worth of parts] has gone through this shop in a year.”

Police identified the man suspected of stealing Latham’s motorcycle as Jorge Aldana, 28, of San Fernando, and his accomplice as Juan Solorio, 29, of Lake View Terrace.

Belt said Aldana drove the motorcycle out of the restaurant parking lot while Solorio tried to block Latham’s view from the restaurant, and then drove off in a car.

“Sometime later the driver of the car switched places with the suspect on the motorcycle,” Belt said.

After a short pursuit, Solorio dumped the motorcycle in a ravine near the Foothill Freeway, where it was recovered, Belt said. Police then set up a perimeter and searched the area.

A check of the license plate on the car used in the theft led officers to Aldana’s home in the 1700 block of Knox Street in San Fernando.

Harley-Davidson parts were found in the living room, and Aldana was arrested, Belt said.

“There were also photos of several stolen bikes,” he said.

Police traced a motorcycle in one of the photographs to Solorio’s home a few miles away in Lake View Terrace, in the 11400 block of Sunburst Street, Belt said, where they discovered the chop shop.

The suspects were sent to Van Nuys Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail each and face felony charges of operating a chop shop.