GILROY
– City police on Wednesday arrested a local man on suspicion of
operating a
”
chop shop,
”
a place where stolen vehicles are disassembled and sold for
parts.
GILROY – City police on Wednesday arrested a local man on suspicion of operating a “chop shop,” a place where stolen vehicles are disassembled and sold for parts.
Jose Felix Areno, 27, faces a total of 19 charges: 12 new, related to a search warrant police served at his home last Friday, and seven drug and weapons charges from a prior warrant.
The Gilroy Police Department’s Anti-Crime Team caught up with Areno at Leavesley Road and U.S. Highway 101 Wednesday, taking him into custody at 4:45 p.m.
Areno had not been home when ACT officers searched his home at 1855 Pacheco Pass Highway, just east of Gilroy Foods several days before his arrest. There, police found a stolen vehicle, stolen auto parts, three counterfeit checks, a small amount of the drug methamphetamine and a pipe for smoking it, according to ACT officer Jeff Roccaforte.
Areno lived in the house with family members, none of whom were charged. Police have not yet arrested anyone else in connection with the suspected chop shop, but their investigation is continuing.
Roccaforte did not comment on the scope of the suspected chop shop or how long police had been investigating it before serving the search warrant.
Areno originally gave a false address to police when they arrested him, a place on Frazier Lake Road where he had lived in the past.
Areno had skipped bail prior to the search and was wanted on a $50,000-bail warrant, according to Roccaforte and a county Superior Court clerk. Police called him a “flight risk” on his booking sheet.
Areno was in county jail as of press time, pending $120,150 bail. An arraignment in county Superior Court is scheduled for today.
Although the ACT generally specializes in investigating gang activity, Roccaforte said Areno has no gang connections that police are aware of.
