Detroit police bust west side chop shop, arresting 7

DETROIT - At least 12 vehicles were seized and now seven people are under arrest.

The scattered car parts and vehicle shells sit inside a Detroit police impound lot Friday. It is what cops say they recovered after busting a west side chop shop.

"Residents don't want someone dismantling an entire vehicle," said Sgt. Jonathan Parnell of the DPD Commercial Auto Theft Task Force. "Whether it's engines, oil, and all the environmental contaminants in their residential area."

Detroit police confirm that at least two of the cars found on Faircrest near Queen, south of Seven Mile Thursday were stolen, but they say, that's just the beginning.

"in some way or fashion the other vehicles were being dismantled," Parnell said. "And then stolen parts from the stolen vehicles are being used."

Police spent two days watching two homes and a vacant lot, identifying the suspects from an anonymous tip. It led to seven arrests Thursday night...

The property owner said that the vehicles were not stolen, but they were being worked on for repairs.

"I asked the detective, he said there were stolen cars," the owner said. "Ninety-nine percent of those cars weren't stolen."

Detroit police say two of the men caught were already on probation on chop shop and receiving and concealing stolen property charges.

"I'm frustrated and pissed off," the property owner said. "A guy was riding down the street on his moped and was snatched off his moped and took it. Freely going down the street."

But police say there's much more to that story.

"The actual bike was stolen," Parnell said. "With no key, you could clearly see it was hotwired. We later identified it as a stolen moped."

While police say those arrested will soon face charges, many, up to 10 years in prison. Investigators are working with multiple agencies to dismantle these chop shops.

Police say they're not going to stop and are asking the community to keep speaking up.

Anyone with information on a suspected chop shop should contact police at 1-800-242-HEAT.