Hazel Park

Chop shop exposed in Hazel Park

By Andy Kozlowski
C & G Staff Writer

» Click on image to view full size « Photo provided by the Hazel Park Police Department Christopher Morad Photo provided by the Hazel Park Police Department Christopher Morad

A local auto repair shop was busted for selling stolen vehicles and parts to body shops when a man saw his stolen car being towed out of the location and confronted the business, leading police to their doorstep.

Christopher Morad, 25, of Shelby Township, owner of Parkway Auto Parts and Service at 23891 Dequindre, was arraigned at the Hazel Park Police Department before Hazel Park 43rd District Court’s Magistrate Kimberly Wilson on Saturday, Feb. 11.

He is charged with operating a chop shop, a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and mandatory restitution, and/or a $250,000 fine and mandatory restitution. Morad was released on payment of a $5,000 cash bond.

Between Feb. 7 and Feb. 8, four vehicles were stolen from a body shop in Detroit. On Feb. 9, an individual from the Detroit body shop was in Hazel Park when he spotted one of the stolen vehicles, a 2000 Chevrolet Malibu, being towed by a truck out of Parkway. He trailed the truck to a scrap yard in Warren where he confronted the truck driver, confirming the Malibu was in fact one of the missing vehicles.

The man turned to Hazel Park police, which visited Parkway with the Oakland County Auto Theft Unit. Morad allowed them entry, which is when they discovered another of the stolen vehicles, a Jeep Liberty, in a secured lot at the business.

At this point, Morad refused further access, so he was taken into custody and a search warrant was obtained. Several other vehicle parts were confirmed as stolen, and 10 engines and seven transmissions were confiscated for further inspection.

Police also found hundreds of vehicle parts in various forms of disassembly that they were unable to link to other vehicles, something they are still working on.

The chop shop problem is nothing new, said Hazel Park Police Chief Martin Barner.

“It’s more common than what people would probably think,” Barner said. “Not necessarily common to the city of Hazel Park, but it’s a very lucrative business, and at times very hard to detect.”

The crime affects more than the people involved.

“You have a victim in the owner of the vehicle, and in this case you also have a victim of the business in which they were stolen out of,” Barner said. “But then everyone else suffers because of the insurance costs — the number of stolen vehicles in the area partly determines what your car insurance is.”

In the meanwhile, other mysteries remain to be solved.

“We don’t know at this time who is responsible for the actual theft,” Barner said. “The investigation is still ongoing.”
 

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Andy Kozlowski at akozlowski@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1104.