ALAMEDA COUNTY (KRON)—The Alameda County Regional Task Force finished a two-year investigation with arresting a major chop shop suspect.
35-year-old Albert Murry of Oakland was arrested on Aug. 25 while he was driving a 2009 Pontiac in East Oakland.
Investigators looked at the Pontiac and found the car had stolen parts including the engine and transmission.
A pickup truck parked in front of Murry’s home was searched. The truck also had a stolen engine and transmission, according to police.
Investigators say they seized a car Murry sold to a 17-year-old San Leandro resident and a car registered to Murry’s wife.
Those cars all had stolen engines and transmissions, police said.
On September 7, the Alameda County Regional Task Force decided to search Murry’s home in Oakland on Reposo Drive.
Investigators seized a loaded 30-round magazine as well as a tools and equipment used to break into cars.
According to their investigation, the task force found Murry was a large part of a car theft operation.
Investigators say Murry used his girlfriend’s home on Reposo Drive as a “chop shop”.
Murry is accused of stealing popular GM cars and taking the parts out of them. He would then dump the shells of the cars in East Oakland, according to the task force.
Murry is believed to have had help with committing the thefts
About 300 stolen Camaros have been recovered from the crimes, the task force said. Most of the cars were missing its major parts.
The task force’s investigation also found Murry sold the engines and the transmissions from the Camaros.
Murry also bought cheap cars and putting the stolen parts inside of them, according to the task force.
He was able to legally sell these cars to people who did not know about the crime.
The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office charged Albert Murry for one count of operating a Chop Shop, four counts of possession of stolen property and one count of a felon in possession of a loaded large capacity magazine.