Bucks Co. Chop Shop That Sold Over $500K In Stolen Parts Busted: DA

BUCKS COUNTY, PA —Six men have been charged after authorities took down a chop shop in Milford Township where hundreds of thousands of dollars in stolen parts were sold to the Dominican Republic.

State Police located several stolen vehicles and stacks of stolen vehicle parts that were ready to be shipped overseas inside a garage at 2150 Rosedale Rd., the Bucks County District Attorney's Office said.

Those charged are: Aldenis Gonzalez-Caceres, 52, of Milford Township; Alexander G. Espinal De Jesus, 48, of North Chesterfield, Virginia; Rahinier Antonio Paulino, 31, of Bronx, N.Y.; Ricky M. Paulino, 26, of Bronx, N.Y.; Lenny Gomez-Santos, 47, of Allentown; and Luis F. Hernandez Infante, 23, of Yonkers, N.Y.

Gonzalez-Caceres rented the Milford Township garage where 12 stolen vehicles and several vehicle engines and other parts were located.

Five of the six are currently in custody.

Gonzalez-Caceres was arraigned on Thursday by Magisterial District Judge Christopher E. O'Neill and was released on $150,000 unsecured bail.

The defendants are charged with corrupt organizations, owning, operating or conducting a chop shop, altering or destroying a vehicle identification number, disposition of vehicle or vehicle part with altered VIN, receiving stolen property, possession of an instrument of crime, forgery, tampering with public records, dealing in titles and plates of a stolen vehicle, and insurance fraud.

The investigation is ongoing.

This investigation began in August 2022 when troopers with the Dublin Barracks of the Pennsylvania State Police were contacted by New York City police about a stolen 2022 Honda CRV that was tracked to a location in Bucks County.

The victim told police that she had an Apple AirTag inside her stolen vehicle, which said it was at 2150 Rosedale Road, Milford Township.

State police went to the location and found the location to be a garage rented by Gonzalez-Caceres.

A search warrant was served at the garage and the victim’s stolen vehicle was located inside, along with three other Honda CRVs that were reported stolen out of New York or New Jersey. Police also located numerous vehicle parts neatly organized and stacked throughout the garage.

Additionally, investigators located a mechanical lift, two forklifts, impact drivers, metal cutting tools, and various power tools inside, and reported that the garage resembled an assembly line where vehicles entered the garage intact in the first part of the garage and were then disassembled as it progressed to the second part of the garage, authorities said.

Police served a second search warrant on the second part of the garage and located eight other stolen vehicles.

They also located 15 Honda engines, one Acura engine, twelve airbag components, eight SRS units, four pairs of registration plates, and two doors associated with 19 other vehicles, reported stolen out of New York and New Jersey between Feb. 18, 2022, and Aug. 6, 2022.

Surveillance footage from the area was reviewed and showed the six men working on the garage and driving the stolen vehicles. The surveillance footage also captured U-Haul box trucks coming and going from the garages.

The box trucks were loaded with trash bags and other items from the garages. Investigators uncovered several fraudulent titles submitted by Gonzalez-Caceres. He also obtained vehicle insurance cards for the fraudulently titled vehicles. As the investigation continued, police learned that Gonzalez-Caceres rented the garage for 2 ½ years, which he utilized to repair salvage vehicles and sell them to dealerships in the Dominican Republic.

The operation at the garage then progressed into using the garage to stash stolen vehicles, dismantle them and load them and the parts onto shipping containers for transport and future sale In the Dominican Republic.

During an eight-month span, the group filled 10 containers with approximately $500,000 worth of stolen vehicles and stolen vehicle parts inside. The investigation found that the men would use a key fob programmer to steal the vehicles.