People / Spotlight on achievers : Driven Cop Cited for Vehicle Recovery

By JOHN POPE and THAO HUA

July 11, 1996 12 AM PT

Something as small as an upside-down serial number on a car can catch Officer Gregory Pelton’s attention.

Such a tiny aberration shows the six-year police veteran that “somebody has been tampering with the vehicle,” he said. It’s a strong indication that the car was stolen and that the thief may be at the wheel.

Pelton’s eye for detail helped earn him Orange County’s Auto Theft Officer of the Year award for the second year in a row.

In 1995, Pelton was credited for arresting 36 auto theft suspects and recovering 73 stolen vehicles, more than any other officer in the county. The previous year, he arrested nine suspected thieves and recovered 39 vehicles, and also led the county during that period.

Pelton, 30, is an Irvine High School graduate who attended Irvine Valley College and Golden West College’s police academy, from which he graduated in 1990. He joined the Buena Park Police Department that same year.

When he joined the department, Pelton said, a friendly competition between rookie officers for recovering the most stolen vehicles became his passion.

In addition to leading the county in auto theft recovery for the past two years, Pelton has led his department for four years.

Pelton said Buena Park is a prime location for catching car thieves because the city borders Los Angeles County and has two major roads running through it: the Santa Ana Freeway and the Artesia Freeway.

“There are stolen cars all over the place,” Pelton said. “You just have to look for them.”

One of the cars he has been seeking is his own. In 1994, Pelton’s utility vehicle was stolen in a theater parking lot while he and his two children, now 5 and 7, were watching “The Lion King.”

“It was gone and has never been recovered,” he said. “It’s frustrating . . . so I decided to take it out on other car thieves by catching them.”