Police Impound 67 Vehicles on Lot

Investigators impounded 67 vehicles from a North Hollywood car lot after discovering they were illegally parked, authorities said Wednesday.

Last week, police investigators warned the owner of Charity Vehicle Donations, which sold cars and trucks from a lot in the 6100 block of Vineland Avenue, that the vehicles were parked on land owned by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

High-voltage wires hang over the land, said LAPD Det. Michael Oliver of Consolidated Effort to Combat Auto Theft, or CECAT, a multi-agency unit that includes investigators from the CHP and the Department of Motor Vehicles.

“For safety reasons, DWP doesn’t let people use that lot for anything,” Oliver said. “None of those cars were supposed to be there.”

It took a fleet of trucks from three towing companies a couple of hours to drag all the cars, pickups and a motor home off the lot, Oliver said. The vehicles are being kept in police garages.

Although the cars were illegally parked, no citations were issued, Oliver said.

Investigators also discovered that the car lot was operating without a valid business license, Oliver said.

CECAT is currently investigating other aspects of Charity Vehicle Donations, which is not registered as a nonprofit organization, Oliver said.