Automobile Thefts

A prosecutor said Wednesday she will use eyewitness accounts and DNA evidence to link Kirell Taylor, 26, of Pacoima, to the 1999 kidnapping and murder of a young Woodland Hills businessman who died after being ejected from the trunk of his stolen Bentley. Deputy Dist. Atty. Shellie Samuels said police matched Taylor's DNA with saliva found in one of two ski masks used by Christopher Rawlings' attackers and left at the crime scene.

The "BMW bandits," a ring of professional thieves who have stolen air bags and headlights from luxury cars across the Westside and Mid-Wilshire areas, may now be targeting vehicles in the San Fernando Valley, authorities say. The headlights and air bags -- worth thousands of dollars as black market replacement parts -- have been pried from 54 BMWs in the original neighborhoods in recent months, police say. Now, BMW owners and Los Angeles Police...

Car theft in the county is accelerating again, threatening to spin out of control. After increasing yearly through 1984, '85 and '86, car theft leveled off in 1987 (actually it declined a bit, sliding 1.2% between 1986 and '87). But the upward trend resumed in 1988 with a five-year high recorded in stolen cars, 18% higher than the 1987 figure. But those numbers may pale in comparison to 1989 when this year's thieves are finished.

Vehicle thefts in California dropped 12% in 2008 over the previous year, the California Highway Patrol announced Tuesday. Of the 199,766 vehicles stolen last year, more than half were cars, followed by trucks and vans and, finally, motorcycles. About 9% of the thefts were described as RVs, commercial vehicles and farm equipment. About 86% of the vehicles stolen were recovered. More than half of those recovered were found operational or intact, CHP officials said. Topping the list of most frequently stolen cars in 2008 was the 1991 Honda Accord.

More than six cars and trucks an hour are stolen on average all year long in Los Angeles County, by far the riskiest place in California--and one of the worst in the country--to keep a set of wheels parked. The majority of those vehicles are recovered, but about 8,000 motorists a year in Los Angeles County--and about 21,000 statewide--never see their cars or trucks again. Unrecovered vehicles end up in foreign countries, are chopped up for parts, or are "washed"--resold with phony titles.

Los Angeles is home to an underground economy driven by the parts of pilfered cars. In backyards, garages and even a few illegitimate auto body shops, "chop shop" mechanics dissect stolen cars. Crooks either forward the remains to buyers desperate for replacement parts or use the stolenpieces to rebuild salvaged vehicles and resell them. Chop shops can be found anywhere, and are run by the "criminally bent and mechanically talented," said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Lt. Jack Jordan.

Bright, articulate, polite and full of promise, 16-year-old Coung Minh Hoang will soon go on trial for murder. Authorities say the Vietnam-born teen-ager, homeless at age 13 and abandoned by his parents, carved out a life for himself among the growing population of Chinese gangs in the San Gabriel Valley. It was a life of days spent far from school and of nights gambling. It was a life in tutelage to his gang dai lo , or big brother.

The "BMW bandits," a ring of professional thieves who have stolen air bags and headlights from luxury cars across the Westside and Mid-Wilshire areas, may now be targeting vehicles in the San Fernando Valley, authorities say. The headlights and air bags -- worth thousands of dollars as black market replacement parts -- have been pried from 54 BMWs in the original neighborhoods in recent months, police say. Now, BMW owners and Los Angeles Police...

A California Highway Patrol officer was shot early Saturday following a brief pursuit of two car theft suspects in the city of Industry. The officer, who was not identified, was hospitalized in stable condition. Several hours after the shooting, Armando Saucillo, 21, of Bell Gardens, and a 17-year-old boy were arrested and booked at the sheriff's station in Industry on suspicion of attempted murder of a police officer.

Don't be surprised if you walk into a chic restaurant and find that the customer next to you brought his Mercedes hood ornament to the table along with his portable car stereo. And don't be too quick to touch that gold laurel wreath ornament on your neighbor's new Cadillac. If he's like many Caddy owners, he may have it wired for sound. As thefts of automobile accessories increase across the nation--about $1.

In the last few years, Pico Rivera has burnished a reputation as a city that goes hard after tagging. And much of the credit has gone to Mayor Ron Beilke, who has made eradicating graffiti and punishing young vandals priorities. Under his watch, the city instituted a global positioning graffiti tracking system, bulked up a vandalism enforcement team and began sending letters threatening to put liens on the homes of the parents of juveniles who have not paid restitution.

Despite a drop in violent crime, the city experienced a jump in vehicle-related thefts last year, which resulted in an overall 11% increase in serious crimes for 2007, city officials said. Auto thefts jumped nearly 39% to 222 incidents, while thefts of valuables from vehicles helped push larcenies up 17% to 1,729 incidents, according to police crime statistics. Violent crime was down 9% overall last year, officials said. There were two murders, one less than in 2006; and 20 rapes, one less than the previous year.

Sitting handcuffed at the witness stand, a former state corrections officer on Friday pointed his finger -- both figuratively and literally -- at a disgraced Los Angeles police officer accused of participating in a series of home-invasion-style robberies staged to look like legitimate police raids.

Richmond police say they have found the car stolen from state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata (D-Oakland) at gunpoint. Police Sgt. Louie Tirona says the government-issued car was recovered in good condition late Saturday night after the afternoon robbery. Tirona said the red 2006 Dodge Charger would be processed for fingerprints and evidence. No arrests have been made.

State Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata thought it was a panhandler knocking at his car window Saturday afternoon in Oakland -- until he saw the gun. The masked man was pointing the weapon and said through the glass, "Get out of the car," Perata told Oakland police minutes later. The senator scrambled out of his maroon 2006 Dodge Charger, leaving behind two cellphones in his rush to comply.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is investigating a deputy whose marked patrol car was stolen when he left it parked with the keys inside on Christmas Day, authorities said Wednesday.

Arraignment is scheduled Friday for an alleged gang member arrested in connection with a recent rash of commercial burglaries and auto thefts in the central and south portions of the city. Jamie L. Castillo, 19, was arrested as he carried a typewriter from the South Coast Tank Repair Co. in the 500 block of Avenida de La Estrella, police said.

The crime rate in California's biggest cities fell by an additional 7% during the first six months of 1995 compared to the same period last year, state Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren reported Monday. In a survey of crimes reported by the state's largest police and sheriff's departments, robberies plunged by 12.7%, forcible rapes by 10.8% and homicides by 10.6%, Lungren said. Lesser reductions were reported in assaults, down 2.3%; burglaries, off 6.3%, and automobile thefts, down 8.4%. The figures reflected a continuing downturn in California's crime rate that started three years ago, although Lungren credited enactment last year of the "three strikes" sentencing law for accelerating the trend.

Three of the four high-end SUVs stolen from a mall parking lot Sunday are already in Mexico, and the fourth is probably there too, authorities said Monday. The late-model Chevrolet Tahoes and Suburbans -- worth about $45,000 each -- were taken from the Shops at Mission Viejo in the 27000 block of Crown Valley Parkway, the same location from which 28 similar vehicles were stolen in a three-month period last year.