Thieves Stole Vintage, Luxury Cars, Police Say

Arcadia police on Friday arrested two men who allegedly led a “highly sophisticated” auto-theft ring that may have stolen as many as 30 vintage and luxury automobiles worth nearly $1 million.

Asatour Nagapetian, 40, of Altadena, and Palmen Arsoff, 48, of Granada Hills, were arrested in a joint operation involving California Highway Patrol officers and investigators from the Arcadia, Los Angeles and Pasadena police departments, said Arcadia Police Lt. Richard Mauch.

Four cars valued at $20,000 to $50,000 each--including a 1956 Porsche Speedster--were confiscated Friday at a vacant industrial building in Arcadia, police said.

Lt. Chuck Shipley of the California Highway Patrol said the ring allegedly took stolen automobiles to the industrial building where the vehicle identification numbers were removed and replaced with counterfeit numbers.

The men would then apply to the Department of Motor Vehicles for a valid title and later sell the automobiles, Shipley said.

Police said the ring stole at least two or three vehicles each month for a period of at least a year. “We expect to make more recoveries and perhaps more arrests,” Mauch said.

Arcadia police initiated an investigation of the two men after a neighbor reported suspicious activity at the industrial building last week. A Pasadena body shop owned by one of the men was also raided Friday, police said.

Mauch said most of the stolen cars were sold in Southern California but that some may have been sold abroad. “This is like a river,” he said. “It’s going to lead to other countries.”

Nagapetian and Arsoff were held on suspicion of grand theft auto and receiving stolen property. They are being held in Arcadia City Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail each, police said.

The two are scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday in Santa Anita Municipal Court in Monrovia, police said.