Sheriff says motorcycle ‘chop shop’ operated in East County

Area has seen spike in bike thefts



Wendorf

Wendorf

Police have arrested two people on suspicion of operating a motorcycle “chop shop” in Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley.

Chop shop is the term used to describe a place thieves take stolen cars or, in this case, motorcycles, to be broken down and sold for their parts.

On Monday, the Ventura County district attorney’s office filed three counts of vehicle theft and one count of operating a chop shop against Joanna Shoop, 26, of Westlake Village and Brian Wendorf, 28, of Simi Valley, according to court records.

Police say they identified the pair after patrol deputies found three stolen motorcycles in separate locations within a quarter-mile of the 3000 block of Grande Vista Drive in Newbury Park on April 10.

Shoop

Shoop

Surveillance footage showed each motorcycle was brought by the same two people, and investigators determined a storage unit belonging to Shoop was related to the thefts, police said.

Two days later, investigators located Shoop in Simi Valley and identified Wendorf, who was out on $30,000 bail for a prior vehicle theft arrest, as the second person in the surveillance footage, police said.

The two were arrested and booked into separate locations, according to police.

Investigators have since identified a second storage unit in the 4400 block of Industrial Street in Simi Valley that they say was used in the chop-shop operation.

Police served search warrants at both storage units April 13. Motorcycle parts from at least four other stolen motorcycles were recovered, police said.

According to a statement issued Tuesday, motorcycle thefts have increased dramatically in Thousand Oaks since January, with 11 bikes stolen during the late night or early morning hours.

Shoop and Wendorf were released Wednesday evening on their own recognizance.