36 Car Theft Suspects Arrested in Sting

Three dozen suspected car thieves were arrested early Thursday by Riverside police and the California Highway Patrol after a yearlong sting operation in which undercover agents bought stolen cars for a fraction of their retail value.

Most of the suspects were from Riverside, San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties, CHP spokesman Mark Mezzano said. Another 27 suspects are being sought.

The special auto theft task force--set up to combat the theft of 250 cars a month in and around the city of Riverside--recovered 165 stolen vehicles by buying them back from the thieves, Mezzano said. Thursday morning’s raids were conducted by 75 officers from both agencies.

While many of the stolen cars were used models, some were new and had been stolen from sales lots. Mezzano said a 1989 Mercedes worth $80,000 was sold to the undercover agents for $1,500. Some of the thieves returned time and again to unload their cars, he said.

The undercover agents opened the “storefront� operation in downtown Riverside a year ago and depended on word-of-mouth advertising among the thieves, Mezzano said. The thieves were interested in a quick turnover, he added, explaining, “We were paying $100 or $250 a car for most of them, take it or leave it.�

The sting operation was funded by a special $90,000 grant from the California Office of Criminal Justice Planning and $9,000 from the city of Riverside. The operation was finally closed out and the arrests made when the sting ran out of money, Mezzano said.