The San Fernando Valley: A Hub for High-Profile Car Theft and Mystery

Located just north of the Hollywood Hills and south of the San Gabriel Mountains, the San Fernando Valley in California is home to Circus Liquors, made famous by Clueless, multipled movie studios, scenic views, and one of the biggest car thefts in recent memory. The California Highway Patrol's Southern Division Special Services Vehicle Theft Unit, also known as the SVU, has been investigating a string of high-profile car thefts that have left law enforcement baffled.

The suspect at the center of the investigation is believed to be a sophisticated thief who has managed to steal over 35 luxury cars, including high-end models from top brands such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi. The thefts are thought to have been carried out using fraudulent purchases and stolen identities, with the suspect likely obtaining fake credit card information and IDs to carry out the heists.

According to an officer who spoke to our reporter, this is not a straightforward case of car theft. "This isn't a straight cut case of theft," said the officer. "Stealing this many cars the old-fashioned way would actually be pretty hard to pull off. It's just not feasible." The officer believes that the suspect must have used fraudulent purchases and stolen identities to carry out the heists, and that an operation of this scale can only be carried out by organized thieves involved in multiple stolen identities.

The suspect is thought to have obtained fake credit card information and IDs to carry out the heists, using these stolen documents to rent or buy luxury cars under his own name. He would then drive the car for a short period of time, cold plate it, and park it in an alley or street nearby. In some cases, the thief has been known to abandon the car after a short period of time, while in other cases, he has taken the vehicle back to his backyard parking lot.

The officer who spoke to our reporter believes that the suspect may not have acted alone in this case, and that there may be several people involved. "I've never seen this kind of mass theft in my 20 years on the job," said the officer. "There's gotta be something there." The officer also noted that some of the cars stolen by the suspect were involved in other crimes, suggesting that the thefts may be part of a larger operation.

The suspect is believed to have used fake IDs and credit card information to carry out the heists, which makes it difficult for law enforcement to track him down. The officer who spoke to our reporter noted that new cars are actually easier to steal because of their keyless entry systems, which can be easily hacked by thieves. "A lot of people just leave their keys in their cars," said the officer. "And Vage might have used this tactic a few times."

The suspect is thought to have been using his stolen vehicles for personal gain, possibly selling parts or renting them out under his own name. The officer who spoke to our reporter believes that the suspect's operation is more sophisticated than a typical car theft ring, and that he may be making fake IDs himself.

In addition to the car thefts, the suspect has also been cultivating 400 marijuana plants in his backyard, which suggests that he may have an extensive network of illicit activities. The officer who spoke to our reporter noted that this is not unusual for thieves involved in organized crime, who often engage in a range of illicit activities to fund their operations.

The investigation into the car thefts and marijuana cultivation is ongoing, with law enforcement working to identify the suspect and bring him to justice. In the meantime, residents of the San Fernando Valley are left wondering how such sophisticated crimes can take place on their doorstep, and what measures they can take to protect themselves from these types of threats.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- Just north of theHollywood Hills and southof the San Gabriel Mountainssits the San Fernando Valleyof California, home toCircus Liquors made famousby Clueless, multiplemovie studios, scenic viewsand one of the biggest carheists in recent memory.The California HighwayPatrol's Southern DivisionSpecial Services VehicleTheft Unit, it's a mouthful,AKA the CHP Southern DivisionSSC, still kind of long,issued a warrant for an arrestfollowing a two month long investigation.What they found was truly shocking.35 stolen cars in someone'sbackyard in Van Nuys.So how did one guy allegedlysteal all these cars and why?Today on WheelHouse, we're gettingto the bottom of thisbaffling auto theft case.Thanks to the Ridge Walletfor sponsoring today's video.This is your dad's bulkyleather-bound mess of a walletand this is the Ridge Wallet.Unlike this uncomfortablefolding nightmare,the Ridge Wallet is light and industrial,designed to fit comfortablyin your front pocket.But don't let its sleekness fool you,This beauty can hold up to 12 cardswith plenty of room for cash.Plus, its durable exterior is madewith RFID blockingtechnology that protects youfrom digital pickpocketers.No wonder the Ridge Wallethas 40,000 five star reviews.Get 10% off today with freeworldwide shipping and returnsby going to ridge.com/donutmediaand using code donutmedia,or just click the link below.Now back to the show. Gotto go find that wallet.(chiming music)It was nearly 80 degreesin the valley on Thursday, March 24th.It was a perfect day for baskingin the sun and relaxingwith a refreshing beverage.It was also the day lawenforcement arrested 39-year-oldVage Chavushyan for suspicionof possessing a firearm.He might have gone down for a gun,but what he's suspectedof is far more expensive.This north Hollywood nativewas also in possessionof an indoor operation of morethan 400 marijuana plants.And as I mentioned earlier,the reason we're all here:he had 35 stolen cars, allparked in his backyard.Check out the aerialview of this crime scene.These cars were parked pretty well,not a lot of space to waste.So what kind of rides were stolen?Well, these weren't youraverage Uber cars, all right?These are the kind of rides pulling upwhen you splurge on that UberXafter a long night ofpartying at the Victorian.The backyard haul is quite theassortment of pricey whips.You got classic beauties,such as the Bentley Continental GT,an Aston Martin vantage anda CH Chevy Corvette Stingray.A full detailed list of all the contrabandhas not been released yet,but the photos on the CHP'sFacebook page introduced usto a few of the cars at the party.There's also a BMW X6M, a few Mercedes SUVsand various other German coops and sedans.Vage had champagne taste.According to an on-call desk officerat the Van Nuys Police Department,most of these other thievesare ballin' on a beer budget.The majority of other cars stolenin the same area as Vage's 35car bust are Hondas, Hyundais,and older Toyota models.A few news reports on this storystate that some of thevehicles from the backyardwere involved in other crimes in the area.It's crazy to think thisguy's nearly 2.3 million worthof stolen cars on his propertyand thinks it's a good idea togo out and commit more crimeswhile driving said stolen automobiles.It's actually pretty suspicious.It's almost too easy.Something else has to be going on, right?Another fact that is super weird to meabout this case is thatVage was not even chargedwith car theft at the time,but with possession of a firearm.the officer we spoke withdefeatedly confided in usthat theft, even at this level,is considered a minor crime.He was surprised that themedia was even covering it.I mean, think about it. That makes sense.Like if one car gets stolen,that's not really a news story.So it's gotta be a lota cars to get stolenfor it to be noteworthy.So how and why does a person get awaywith a crime like this for so long?According to the photosand police reports fromthe day of the bust, alot of the cars had beenthere a long time, withgrass grown up around them.Some cars even had signs of wear and tear.And I know what you're thinking.Why would someone steal thatmany cars and then just leavethem to essentially rot inthe backyard of all places?Great question.But the clear answer here,according to my new buddyworking the desk shift at the Van Nuys PD,is that this isn't astraight cut case of theft.This is a major fraud case.Stealing this many carsthe old fashioned waywould actually be pretty hard to pull off.Imagine the luck andlogistics necessary to pilferthis many high profile rides by yourselfwithout getting caught.It's just not feasible.Law enforcement believes that an operationon this level can only be carriedout via fraudulentpurchases and a lot of them.Let's examine how somethinglike this even gets carried out.By more stealing, of course.Now this is a little bit ofspeculation, but stay with me.I was told organized theft ofthis volume requires the thiefor thieves involved to undertakemultiple stolen identitiesand commit fraud on multiplecredit card accounts.Basically, the suspectmost likely got his handson someone's credit cardinformation that was not his.Then he also steals their identityor knows someone who makesvery convincing fake documents.Hell, he seems to bequite the entrepreneur.He might be making fake IDs himself.If he was stealing the IDsthis person's gottasorta look like him too.Look, we were all underageonce. You know the deal.Not me though. I wasn'tcool in high school.Then he sets up a high-caliber car rentalsituation through a dealership.He springs for the luxurycar and then goes tolease or buy this carunder his new stolen nameand then he never brings it back.Or he goes to a dealershipand test drives a carunder a different fake identity,and then never comes back.In either of these cases,he takes the stolen vehicleback to his backyardluxury car parking lot and parks it.Then he can't be trackedbecause the person whostole the car wasn't even him.Then he does that over and over again,at least 35 times that we know of.As you might imagine, crimeslike these are pretty uncommon.It's a more sophisticated crime.According to the officer we talked to,most car thefts are one-offs.And according to an article releasedby Crosstown in January of 2022, in 2021there were a total of 24,224vehicle thefts in Los Angeles.This is the most thefts ina single year since 2010,a 13.7% increase since 2020and a shocking 54.1% riseof the number of vehiclesreported stolen in 2019.This report also cites Van Nuysas one of the hot spots for auto theft, soI guess park in Northridgeand then Uber over.According to the one officerwe could get on the phone,usually someone steals acar they see on the street.They decide they need it formonetary purposes, like parts,or maybe they just wannatake it for a joy ride.They can do this by punchingout the ignition or using a shaved key.Typically car thieveswill drive the car aroundfor a day or two and then cold plate it.Cold plating means using stolen platesof the same make and modelas the stolen vehicle.Cold plates shield the carfrom automated plate readerson police cars and othergovernment vehiclesthat can alert an officerthat a vehicle has been reported stolen.A lot of times after thisthe thieves will parkthe stolen car in anearby alley or street.And shockingly, a lot of peoplethat have had their car stolen saythat they find it like a mile away.And as I previouslymentioned, stealing a carand selling the parts is alsoa popular tactic for many thieves.The Van Nuys officer saidthat new cars are actuallyeven easier to stealbecause of their keyless entry systems.A lot of people just leavetheir keys in their cars.And Vage might have usedthis tactic a few times,but rather than abandoning his loot nearbyhe took it back to his backyard empire.The officer said he's never seen this kindof mass theft in his 20 years on the job.He truly believes that the suspectdidn't act alone in this case.Maybe it's more of a mass crime operation,with possibly a few people involved.Remember earlier I mentioned that someof the cars were involved in other crimes?There's gotta be something there.He somehow also found timeto tend 400 pot plants,which seems like tedious workto do on the side by yourself.I can barely keep my bamboo plant alive.I keep thinking about thispart in "Catch Me If You Can",a movie that came out in like 2002,Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks.Leo plays a con artist thattravels around the worldand makes his way of life relying on hisskills to perform flawless frauds.I like to picture of the daythe CHP rolled up on Vageand had a similar tone,except the CHP wasdefinitely chasing Vage.But for now, according toan article in the LA Times,he's arrested onsuspicion of being a felonin possession of a firearmand California law dictatesthat that's a maximum sentenceof three years in countyjail, or he could get finedup to $10,000 or he could getboth a jail sentence and a fine.If he's also convictedof stealing all 35 carsand being charged with fraud he could facea two to five year jailsentence with a fineof up to $50,000 and possiblyprobation, allegedly.So what now? Well, things arestill mostly up in the air.This is an ongoing investigationand clearly large partsof the why and the howof this happened are TBD.The Van Nuys officeroffered up a few key piecesof advice for keepingyour precious rides safefrom the hands of thieves.Be less of a target. Don'thave a damaged ignition switch.Make sure your ignitionswitch is in good shape.Get a club for the steering wheel,especially if you have Honda.And for God's sakes, don't leave your keysor the key fob in the car.This seems very obvious, butit's one of the leading waysthieves are able to steal cars so easily.We also have an entireepisode of WheelHouseall about preventing theftand I'll link that down belowif you wanna know more.This is still an ongoing investigation,so there are still lotsof unanswered questions.I mean, I have tons.Maybe the backyard wassome sort of stable,where a crime ring parked their cars.Or maybe this guy justreally, really likedcars and made some dumbdecisions to get them.- Hello, my name's Rylie andI'm a friend of the channeland I'm also the artist thatmade the Donut Media mural.It's finally done after somany sleepless nights, snacks,red bulls, ups and downs, highs and lows.Now it's finally here and I'm so excitedyou guys get to see itand have your own versionof it as a sticker.- It's not gonna beavailable for very long,so if you want it I suggest you goto donutmedia.com rightnow and get you one.(paper crinkling)(relaxing music)- That's it for WheelHouse this week.Like we said, this case is still ongoing.A lot of details haven'tbeen released yet.Freaking wild. Van Nuys,who would've thought, huh?Be kind. Don't leave your keys in the car.I'll see you next time.(soft music)