Operating a chop ship is a criminal offense in California
The term “chop shop” is one that you may be familiar with from television or movies. In essence, it is where someone (typically with mechanical experience) takes apart, alters, or stores stolen cars or auto parts for the purpose of selling or disposing of it, or to hide its identity. In other words, chop shops are used to process stolen cars and car parts so that the cars themselves or the individual parts can be sold.
In California, operating a chop shop is a criminal offense. As a criminal defense attorney in Orange County, CA can explain, if you are charged with this crime, you may be facing a felony or misdemeanor charge, based on the facts of the case and your criminal history. As a felony, the penalties for operating a California chop shop include up to 4 years in county jail and/or a fine of up to $50,000. If it is charged as a misdemeanor, the penalty may include up to 1 year in county jail and/or a fine of up to $1,000.
So what exactly does it mean to operate a chop shop? First, it is important to understand how California law defines a chop shop. The California Vehicle Code defines a chop shop as:
- A building, lot or other premises;
- Where anyone has been altering, destroying, disassembling, dismantling, reassembling, or storing;
- Any motor vehicle or motor vehicle part;
- Obtained by theft, fraud, or conspiracy;
- In order to alter, counterfeit, deface, destroy, disguise, falsify, forge, obliterate or remove the identity of the vehicle or vehicle part;
- For the purpose of misrepresenting the identity or preventing the identification of the motor vehicle or part, or to sell or dispose of the motor vehicle or part.
To prove that a person committed the crime of operating a chop shop, a prosecutor must demonstrate that they:
- Knowingly and intentionally operated a chop shop;
- Knew the vehicle or vehicle part was obtained by theft, fraud or conspiracy to defraud; AND
- Knew that the vehicle or part was obtained in order to sell or dispose of it, or alter, disguise or remove it so as to misrepresent its identity or prevent is identification.
As noted above, the penalties for operating a chop shop can be serious, particularly if the crime is charged as a felony. However, a skilled criminal defense attorney in Orange County, CA can put together a strong defense to this type of charge. Possible defenses include demonstrating that the business was not a chop shop. For example, if you operate an auto repair business and were not aware that some of your employees are stealing parts from vehicles and replacing them with cheap parts in order to sell the genuine parts, you cannot be convicted of this crime. Similarly, if you didn’t know that a vehicle or parts were stolen, that can be a defense to the charge.
At the Chambers Law Firm, we represent people who have been charged with a range of crimes, including those related to auto theft. If you have been charged with a crime, contact us today at 714-760-4088 or dchambers@clfca.com to schedule a free initial consultation with a member of our team.
