California Highway Patrol Vehicle Theft Investigators Jim Eberhart, Tony Padilla, Robert Holtz, and J. Vaughan commenced an undercover mobile storefront operation dubbed “Operation Wheel Spin.” This operation was led by the four CHP investigators assigned to the California Highway Patrol, Southern Division Investigative Services Unit (ISU). The operation was spearheaded by the investigators as an innovative and modernized method of investigating vehicle theft activity. The purpose of the operation was to identify career vehicle/motorcycle thieves, theft rings, chop shops, recover stolen property, and to gather the evidence necessary for arrests and successful prosecution of those suspects involved. The overall goal of the operation was to reduce the vehicle/motorcycle theft rates in Los Angeles County and surrounding communities. California leads all other states in the US in motorcycle thefts over the last five years (Source: National Insurance Crime Bureau, 2012 Motorcycle Theft and Recovery Report).

Operation Wheel Spin began with the purchase of outstanding stolen sport bike motorcycles by utilization of confidential resources. Undercover officers were then introduced into the case and began to buy stolen property from suspects. In the months that followed, CHP investigators began to conduct a series of undercover buy/walk operations of stolen motorcycles while maintaining covert status during the investigation. Multiple investigative tools and resources were utilized, including undercover operatives with full undercover identities (names, phone numbers, e-mail accounts, social media internet accounts, misc. props, etc.), undercover vehicles, body wire monitoring, audio/ video recording devices, covert cameras, use of ground/aerial surveillances, and cold/wall stops to identify suspects and co-conspirators.

Investigators assigned to the undercover operation conducted a multitude of tasks including, maintaining/organizing the operation in a systematic manner for all inquiries and reporting procedures; maintaining multiple logs consisting of the undercover transactions, intelligence meetings, suspects, evidence, recoveries, undercover activities, notes, statistics, operational and tactical briefings with team members and supervisors on the progression and direction of the operation; planning and conducting undercover operations; status updates with District Attorney/Attorney General; search warrant authorizations; and report preparation which culminated case filings.

Based upon the experience and knowledge of the investigators regarding sport bike identification and theft methods and trends, numerous requests for assistance and/or case referrals regarding sport bikes were forwarded from other CHP areas and law enforcement agencies. During the tenure of Operation Wheel Spin, investigators initiated 139 investigations which had a correlation to sport bikes and the thefts of these types of motorcycles. Some of these investigations involved allied law enforcement agencies such as the San Diego Police Department, Las Vegas Metro Police Department- VIPER Unit, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department- TRAP Unit, Long Beach Police Department, and the Los Angeles Police Department

Operation Wheel Spin came to an end in December 2013. California State Deputy Attorney General Natasha Howard, who had been working with CHP Investigators, was presented with the case filing in January/February 2013. Since the filing, multiple arrest and search warrants were served, chop shops were identified and eliminated, and dozens of additional stolen motorcycles were recovered. The prosecution of the suspects identified through the undercover operation is currently on-going and many have resulted in convictions thus far.

Operation Wheel Spin Statistics:

• 139 Operation Wheel Spin Investigations
• 58 Total Undercover Transactions
• 79 Suspects Identified
• 51 Arrests
• 110 Stolen Vehicles Recovered (99 Motorcycles and 11 Automobiles)
• 29 VIN Altered/Removed (Motorcycles and/or Engines)
• 9 Chop Shops Shut Down
• 21 Search Warrants Executed
• $848,140 Total Value of Stolen Vehicles Recovered

Investigator Eberhart receiving Award of Merit from committee member Bill Skinner and President Peter Perrien at the IAATI Annual Seminar.