- Officers busted a chop shop while two suspects were in the midst of dismantling stolen cars.
- Suspects had cars and parts strewn across five different storage units in the same area.
- Police recovered three vehicles and five different engine assemblies, alongside other parts.
Chop shops can turn someone’s pride and joy into a husk of itself in short order. To do so, they need to work quickly and, oftentimes, at unexpected hours. What the suspects in this story didn’t expect was for police to come knocking on their door early on a Monday morning. When they did, the gig was up. Now, they are compiling a long list of every part and car they found.
The bust went down on June 30 at the Public Storage facility at 10024 S Harlem Ave in Bridgeview, Illinois. Officers received a call from someone who said they saw dismantled cars in the facility. Sure enough, when the cops arrived, they caught two people in the process of pulling muscle cars apart. In fact, innocent bystanders were also there, unknowingly about to purchase stolen parts from the cars in question.
Read: Why Did San Francisco Police Trap Over 100 Cars During Midnight Meet?
One appears to be a V8 Chevrolet Camaro and the other, a Dodge Challenger, is in so many pieces that it’s hard to say what it once was. Other photos from the scene show bits and pieces of other Challengers, so this isn’t the crew’s first rodeo.
“This is an ongoing investigation”, Police Chief Ricardo Mancha said. “Bridgeview Police received and responded to a call of suspicious activity at the Public Storage facility. Upon arrival, we encountered several individuals who were taken into custody.”
In addition to three stolen cars, officers also found a number of engines. Several appear to be supercharged HEMI V8s. At least one is a Chevrolet small-block V8. Beyond the cars and engines, police found transmissions, body panels, countless interior panels, dashboards, and a myriad of other auto parts throughout five different storage units at the location.
“The police officers and investigators have done a great job,” Mancha said to Patch. “But without that individual calling it in, we may not have come across this. So a big thank you to them.” Here’s to a great effort that hopefully will reunite some owners with their pride and joy, whether it’s in one piece or many, with some assembly needed.
Photo Bridgeview Police Department
