Cops aim to put a stop to chop shops

It took four officers 6 1/2 minutes to reduce a 1999 Honda Civic to a shell Thursday morning.

"And we're amateurs," said Sgt. Eric McPherson with the Motor Vehicle Enforcement Division.

Car thieves can strip a car faster than the officers assigned to track them down, McPherson said. And the reason they do it is simple: The value of car parts sold separately is more than the car as a whole.

Four officers attacked the gray Honda to show how quickly car thieves operate and make money chopping up a car and selling the parts. So-called chop shops are prevalent in Utah, and the Honda Civic, the top choice among car thieves nationally last year, is also the preferred choice here, where 70 have been reported stolen in the past month.

During the simulated chop-shop, one officer started on the wheels, which can fetch $125 apiece. Another started on the four doors, each of which is $650. Add those to the fenders at $770, trunk lid at $330 and seats at $500 apiece, and the math begins to make sense.

By the time thieves are done with a car, they can pull more than $10,000 in parts in a matter of minutes.

The resale value of a 1999 Civic is about $9,000, McPherson said. A Kelley Blue Book query on the Internet for a similar car in good condition with 60,000 miles yielded a resale value of more than $7,000.

The parts are sometimes sold to legitimate body shops, whose buyers may not ask enough questions about where parts come from. If a body shop can get a quick, good deal on a headlight assembly, which may cost about $180, the shop can send satisfied customers on their way more quickly.

"It is all about money," McPherson said.

McPherson recently caught a man who had his friends chop his car so he could make an insurance claim that it had been stolen. The man planned to collect the insurance money and then reassemble his car. That's insurance fraud, McPherson said. The man has since been arrested.

There are precautions car owners can take to avoid being victims of a stolen and chopped car.

"Don't leave your keys in the car," said MVED Sgt. Curtis Stoddard.

As fall becomes winter, more people will begin to run their vehicles for a few minutes before heading to work to stave off the morning chill.

"Don't warm up your car in the morning," McPherson said. "If a thief wants your car, he can get it."