Dozens Of Cars Found In Chop Shop During Berkeley Auto Theft Investigation: Police

BERKELEY, CA — Two men were arrested in connection with operating a chop shop out of the East Bay, Berkeley police said.

Police say the two men were running an illegal business where stolen vehicles are taken apart for cash. This makes it more difficult for investigators to track down the stolen car.

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The Berkeley Police Department said it was investigating an auto theft case where several cars were stolen in one night, and it led them to an area along railroad tracks between 50th and 66th avenues in East Oakland.

"There, officers located four Hondas that had recently been stolen from Berkeley," police said. "Each vehicle had been stripped of parts, with the engines removed and staged for pickup."

Officers began surveilling the area and saw several suspects loading up the engines into a pickup truck, police said.

Those suspects led officers to the chop shop in East Oakland, where officers saw more than 50 cars that had been stripped for parts, police said.

Several vehicles had been completely burned, and at least 25 other Honda sedans stolen out of Berkeley over the last several weeks were found, police said.

The suspects, identified by police as Jesus Rodriguez, 47, and Manuel Tapia, 43, were taken into custody on suspicion of possession of stolen property, dismantling or tampering with a vehicle and operating a chop shop, authorities said.

Rodriguez had a warrant for a robbery and assault with a deadly weapon case at the time of the arrest, police said.

"The investigation remains ongoing as detectives work to identify additional suspects connected to this operation," police said. "To help reduce the risk of vehicle theft, we encourage community members to take preventive measures, including:"

• Use a steering wheel lock.
• Park in a well-lit area or secured garage whenever possible.
• Consider installing an On-Board Diagnostics (OBD) port lock. OBD port locks prevent thieves from accessing a vehicle's diagnostic port, which can be used to program new keys and steal keyless-start vehicles in a matter of minutes.