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Allentown Auto Works & Recycling, owned by Cesar Garcia-Martinez, 34, of Easton, was identified as a chop shop that was dismantling stolen vehicles during an investigation by the Lehigh County Auto Theft Task Force Unit, the Lehigh County District Attorney's Office explained in a release on Monday, Sept. 30.
The investigation began when the task force was contacted by Allentown police regarding a stolen Honda Accord seen in the area of North 5th and Washington streets on Wednesday, Sept. 18.
Police used an automated license plate reader to identify and confirm that the Honda had been reported stolen two days earlier from Elizabeth, New Jersey, according to the DA's release.
A court order allowed detectives to place a mobile tracking device on the Honda to see where it was being taken to, authorities said. The car was tracked to Allentown Auto Works & Recycling, located at 299 Cedar Street, on Sept. 19.
The task force searched the business under a search warrant obtained on the same day, finding 10 stolen vehicles on the property, according to the district attorney's office.
Each vehicle was found in a different state of disassembly, with all of them chopped up into pieces small enough to be carried. None of the vehicles had titles or other paperwork; they were determined to have been stolen from Cheltenham, New Jersey, New York City, and Philadelphia.
Garcia-Martinez was charged with the following according to the DA, police, and court documents:
- Felony Owning, Operating, or Conducting a Chop Shop.
- Felony Transports, Sells, Transfers, Purchases, etc. Illegally obtained from a Chop Shop.
- Felony Disposition of Vehicle or Vehicle Part with Altered Vehicle Identification Number.
Felony Receiving Stolen Property (10 counts).
He is being held in Lehigh County Jail on $75,000 bail, according to court records. His preliminary hearing is scheduled before Judge Linda Vega Sirop at 1:45 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 4.
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