Ohio car theft victim finds alleged 'chop shop'

CLEVELAND (AP) — A Cleveland man frustrated over the theft of his Honda Civic decided to track it down himself, and police say his search led to the bust of a car-theft ring and chop shop.

Twenty-year-old Christopher Bravo said he saw his car on Monday in a garage near one of the city’s police stations. Police showed up, and authorities said they found an abandoned home nearby that was full of car parts, arrested nine people and towed away six stolen Civics.

The bust was made by a department that has one officer assigned to the auto theft unit in a city where more than 4,000 cars were stolen last year. That’s down from 12 members six years ago.