Fire Set at Chop Shop After 6 Men Arrested

A group of rented spaces that police say were being used as a chop shop to break down stolen luxury automobiles for parts were set on fire early Thursday, barely a day after six men were arrested on suspicion of running the operation, officials said.

Three rented spaces in an industrial area on Branford Street were partly destroyed by the fire that officials believe was set between 3:30 and 5:30 a.m.

Los Angeles Police Det. Gary Sims, who was investigating, said he believes that one or two of the suspects who were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of running the chop shop returned to the scene and set the fire.

“It’s my personal opinion they were out to show us that they can still get away with something” Sims said. “It’s a juvenile act to prove that they are out there and aren’t afraid of the police.”

Sims said that early Thursday morning, someone drove a stolen 1997 Toyota Avalon into one of the spaces. The car was then stripped of its most valuable parts, he said, and set on fire.

The men arrested on Wednesday were David Chatalbashyan, 22; William Alberto Eduardo, 27; Johnny Victor Trivino, 21; David Quintanilla, 35; Juan Mena, 22, and Andy Diaz Arauz, 33, Sims said.

All the men paid bail and were released several hours after being arrested.

Around the same time that police were making the arrests at several Pacoima locations, investigators found three intact cars and the parts of more than 30 others in the rented spaces, Sims said.

Police allege that the arrested men had been buying salvaged cars from junk yards and then rebuilding them with stolen parts.