Folks Of Interest "Detectives slam brakes on shop Owner of a hot-rod shop"

I just got this email,..... not HAMB stuff,... but a sad story.


Detectives slam brakes on shop Owner of a hot-rod shop

Authorities arrested four men Wednesday in connection with an auto-theft ring run out of a Canyon Country hot-rod repair shop, including the business’s owner and a retired Los Angeles Police Department auto-theft detective, officials said.



A multi-agency task force arrested Nellson Vels, the 50-year-old owner of Billet Works Performance and president of a local muscle-car group along with co-worker Daryl Perkins, 50, at Vels’ shop Wednesday morning.

Retired LAPD Detective James Ruffner, 66, of Canyon Country, was also arrested on suspicion of receiving a stolen aluminum vehicle trailer worth $10,000 and swapping the vehicle identification number to hide the crime. James Landon, 36, was also arrested in the case. The two frequented Vels’ shop.

Wednesday’s arrests resulted from a three-year investigation that found Vels and his associates have stolen at least one rare and pricey car and three high-end trailers they had built or repaired from their customers, said LAPD Detective George Molina.​

Molina, a member of the Task Force for Regional Auto-theft Prevention, said he believes others may have had their hot-rod cars stolen after having them built or serviced at Billet Works.

The case intensified in February, when a customer’s red 1956 Chevy Bel Air convertible worth $108,000 was stolen out of the parking lot of a Valencia restaurant — while Vels was there dining with the victim.

Detectives said they later found pieces of it in Vels’ workshop and a stolen trailer in his possession parked on Sierra Highway.

But the auto-shop owner has been on the team’s radar for years, detectives said.

Last year, his associate Jerry Thompson, of Los Angeles, was convicted of stealing seven high-end classic cars in the San Fernando Valley. One of those cars had been built at Billet Works Performance, where Thompson used to hang out. Thompson is serving an eight-year prison sentence.

The shop has served as a social hub for hot-rod enthusiasts, including several law-enforcement officers, said LAPD Detective Jess Corral.

Vels himself is president of the local United Muscle Car Association. Former LAPD Detective Ruffner, who lives nearby, also used to frequent the shop and was a member of Vels’ muscle-car club.

About 9 a.m. on Wednesday, detectives clad in bullet-proof vests strode into the Vels’ workshop — a small, fluorescent-lit garage crammed with muscle cars in various stages of completion.

They had Vels and Perkins in handcuffs seconds later.​

The caravan of police cars and cadre of detectives that raided Billet Works drew neighboring business owners out of their shops. They stared, surprised, as police placed Vels and Perkins in the back of a patrol car.

“It’s a real shocker,” said Albert Artiles, owner of neighboring business Artiles Foreign Car Restoration. “I thought they were coming in for parking tickets or something.”

Others, who asked not to be named, said they never noticed anything suspicious about Billet Works Performance and that Vels seemed to have close friendships with nearly all of his customers.

“He does a lot of nice work,” said Kevin Torres, owner of KTM Auto Repair. “(They’re) honest people. He’d never do anything.”
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See, BILLIT does suck!

 

More reason to build it yourself. Only CHARGED / not convicted!!! yet

Theres still hope its all a misunderstanding. Its tuff to hide from people when your racing at tracks. Would take some BIG BALLS.

 

I suppose they're all innocent until proven guilty, but it sure sounds like the authorities had been building the cases against them for a long while. It is a sad day when retired cops (with probably an excellent pension plan) get greedy and get themselves mixed up in stuff like this. Hope the guilty ones spend considerable time behind bars.

 

repeat, was on here a couple days ago...

 

if they did steel those cars and trailers i hope they go straight to hell,and fry!!!!i work very hard for what little i have and it pisses me of when people take the easy way of life.if they want something they should work hard and save up just like everyone else does.burn in hell!!!!!!!!!!

 

This is about the fourth or fifth time I have read in the last several years about cops involved in theft rings. A chief of police and assistant chief were arrested and convicted of Bank Robbery in Clear Lake (Nasa Area) several years ago so no one seems to be exempt from doing wrong if that choose that life style.

 

Sorry about that,.... I must have missed it.

 

My sons hotrod was stolen and we are sure it was taken by an employee at the shop that did the engine install, (and had the keys while working on it!)

 

no its not a mix up this guy is from my valley adn i have personal experience with him....... when you look up arrogant in the dictionary his picture is there yes he did do it and its a major topic of intrest in my town right now

 

Thanks for posting. I've somehow missed this.

 

yeah the other thread was about a stolen 56.............maybe they will merge into one

 

Thanks Harms Way, for posting this.

I did not see the other posts about this artical.

You would think that clean looking shop with law enforcment hanging around would be OK.

I have left shops that did not feel right and have been screwed by shops I thought were OK.

 

Same people, and the first thread on it seems to have vanished.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=377578

 

How many threads have there been on here about stolen rods and classics? Places like this must be where they go.

Guy is dining with a customer while his car was stolen - and parts of the car are later found in his shop - damn!

Pays to stay alert when trusting people. I had my garage cleaned out some years ago just after moving house. Couldn't work out how come the removal guys kept on putting stuff into the garage. At the time I just figured them to be lazy...

Its always a shock to discover people with so little conscience. Spit.

 

Personally I dont think its such a sad story for all of the guys who -WONT- have their cars stolen now!!

 

had to laugh at that....


Good to see bad guys caught.
dirty cop... throw him in with Bubba Fudgepacker

 

They just had a major chop shop bust in Newport,TN within the last two weeks, this was an FBI sting involved was a retired Police Chief of 31 years and two of his sons.

 

I dont understand why this is a "sad" story? he was obviously caught stealing.....glad they got him before he got anybody else.

 

I knew those gold chainers were trouble..

 

Thanks for posting I missed it too

 

Let the piece of trash rot in jail. Former cops, they'll have fun with them in jail

 

Wow just F'n Wow!

"Tie a rope to 'em and Drag'em....."

 

thats a few less vermin out there to rip off car people. good job!

 

Get a rope

 

dont suprise me one bit i truly beleive a large percentage of cops are crooked

 

Any mention of their Congressman or Senator?

 

Assholes.

 

I don't agree with that, I think that a small percentage of cops that are pieces of crap make up the larger image of cops in general.

This prized specimen of a retired law enforcement officer will get what he so richly deserves, a little cell in solitary confinement, with the full knowledge that death lurks around every corner, 'cause his ass is forfeit in prison.

 

I second that.