Huge stash of stolen vehicles found north of Castaic

By Jeff — Jeff Wilson

In what industry officials are calling the largest theft ring in their company’s history, detectives seized more than 35 stolen vehicles, heavy equipment and recreational vehicles during a 10-hour search warrant operation late Monday night.

The find came following a LoJack stolen vehicle recovery system hit near the Interstate 5 Golden State Freeway and Templin Highway Monday morning.

The deputies followed the hit to a remote 60-acre property in a rural area of Northern Los Angeles County. Near the location, in the 31000 block of Faimham Street, Castaic, deputies discovered a Bobcat Skid-Steer Loader that had been stolen from the Mission Cemetery, Mission Hills, on January 5.

…

A search warrant was obtained and after a 10-hour operation, involving more than 15 detectives and sheriff’s personnel, investigators recovered vehicles and other items they believe to be stolen. All told, the property and vehicles had a value estimated at well over 1 million dollars. During the investigation, detectives found and recovered 35 vehicles and countless other items including motor homes, John Deere and Kawasaki Mule utility vehicles, and even an Airstream camping trailer reported stolen out of Santa Clarita more than 3 years ago.

In what industry officials are calling the largest theft ring in their company’s history, detectives seized more than 35 stolen vehicles, heavy equipment and recreational vehicles during a 10-hour search warrant operation late Monday night.
The find came following a LoJack stolen vehicle recovery system hit near the Interstate 5 Golden State Freeway and Templin Highway Monday morning.
The deputies followed the hit to a remote 60-acre property in a rural area of Northern Los Angeles County. Near the location, in the 31000 block of Faimham Street, Castaic, deputies discovered a Bobcat Skid-Steer Loader that had been stolen from the Mission Cemetery, Mission Hills, on January 5.
…
A search warrant was obtained and after a 10-hour operation, involving more than 15 detectives and sheriff’s personnel, investigators recovered vehicles and other items they believe to be stolen. All told, the property and vehicles had a value estimated at well over 1 million dollars. During the investigation, detectives found and recovered 35 vehicles and countless other items including motor homes, John Deere and Kawasaki Mule utility vehicles, and even an Airstream camping trailer reported stolen out of Santa Clarita more than 3 years ago.

The LoJack official used the words “organized crime” to describe the find, especially in relation to the stolen construction equipment. Do we have a local mafia ring jacking construction equipment and storing it way up Castaic way?

I hate to sound like a City Slicker, but this story just confirms one more perception I have about living in the SCV: there are many strange and interesting things that go on in the canyons, hills and mountains around us. I’ve ridden my bike through practically all of them, and though I can’t quite put my finger on it, these hills & canyons have secrets. I’m not just talking about the roque marijuanna field either.

For instance, up Sierra Highway there is the disgraced Tony Alamo cult property. Up San Fransciquito, well, it’s supposedly haunted with the dead of the St. Francis dam disaster. I once saw a shirtless, bearded man smoking pot and listening to the Grateful Dead in a cabin up in Bouquet Canyon, and I’ve already documented some of the strange and wonderful things I found in Tapia Canyon, near the jail. Soledad Canyon is home to abandoned fire trucks, youth work camps, and the kind of people attracted to KOA campgrounds. We’ve all been back to spooky Mentryville, while in Towsley, oil bubbles up from the earth. Drive or ride over Vasquez Canyon and you’ll be treated to topography and rocks wholly different from the rest of the SCV.

In other words, you go into Santa Clarita’s canyons, and you never know what you’ll find. Good on the Deputies for making this career-enhancing bust!

Comments (9)

KLBJanuary 12, 2010 at 4:59 pm

The hills and canyons?! HA! I never know what I’ll find when I enter my complex after work every evening. Maybe I’ll run into the homeless guy living in the restrooms at the pool. Or maybe the other homeless guy living in the ravine. And what the heck is that thing that sometimes runs across my roof in the middle of the night and scares the crap out of me? I think it’s a Chupacabra. And the ghosts! Let me tell you about the ghosts. My dog sees them. In our townhouse no less. Scares the crap out of her. Scares the crap out of me when I watch her staring at the empty spot on the sofa next to me like she’s ready to attack what’s there. Sometimes when I come home after work, my complex has turned into an RV park. Makes me want to break out the tent and build a campfire right in the middle of the parking lot. And who needs Mexico when the house next door blasts mariachi music on the weekends? I just break out the blender and I feel like I’m south of the border. The hills and canyons have nothin’ on my little complex.

mikeJanuary 12, 2010 at 5:22 pm

sounds like something out of GTA San Andreas!

spineflower2January 12, 2010 at 10:01 pm

…or the discarded mattress open-air whorehouse that was up Haskell Canyon a decade ago.

spineflower2January 13, 2010 at 10:28 am

Not sure where this is… google maps can’t find “Faimham Street.” Calling it Castaic is funny… it’s supposedly past Templin Highway! I guess anything nort of Magic Mountain and south of Gorman (or sometimes Bakersfield!) is called “Castaic” by non-locals.

mikeJanuary 13, 2010 at 5:22 pm

this is the most awesome story ever. It deserves more.

RichardJanuary 25, 2010 at 9:25 am

I can’t seem to find the 31000 block of Faimham Street anywhere in Castaic or SCV, leading me to doubt the veracity of this story.

RichardJanuary 25, 2010 at 9:33 am

Oh, one more thing, another suspicious thing about this story is the fact that no arrests were made. No arrests were made at a location that does not exist. Interesting.

mikeJanuary 25, 2010 at 9:37 am

I looked hard for this location as well. My guess is either the police can a phony address to keep people from snooping around of that this street was a tiny little private road, an offshoot of the main road, or maybe an offshoot of an offshoot.

RichardJanuary 25, 2010 at 9:42 am

One more thing then I’ll quit: “In what industry officials are calling the largest theft ring in their company’s history”. I challenge anyone to make sense of this sentence. Complete gibberish. This back-asswards sentence structure was obviously written by someone that is not a “Industry Official”. In real life, the cops would have kept this place under surveillance, one of the vehicles had been stolen about a week earlier. This story sounds very fishy.

KLBJanuary 12, 2010 at 4:59 pm
The hills and canyons?! HA! I never know what I’ll find when I enter my complex after work every evening. Maybe I’ll run into the homeless guy living in the restrooms at the pool. Or maybe the other homeless guy living in the ravine. And what the heck is that thing that sometimes runs across my roof in the middle of the night and scares the crap out of me? I think it’s a Chupacabra. And the ghosts! Let me tell you about the ghosts. My dog sees them. In our townhouse no less. Scares the crap out of her. Scares the crap out of me when I watch her staring at the empty spot on the sofa next to me like she’s ready to attack what’s there. Sometimes when I come home after work, my complex has turned into an RV park. Makes me want to break out the tent and build a campfire right in the middle of the parking lot. And who needs Mexico when the house next door blasts mariachi music on the weekends? I just break out the blender and I feel like I’m south of the border. The hills and canyons have nothin’ on my little complex.
mikeJanuary 12, 2010 at 5:22 pm
sounds like something out of GTA San Andreas!
spineflower2January 12, 2010 at 10:01 pm
…or the discarded mattress open-air whorehouse that was up Haskell Canyon a decade ago.
spineflower2January 13, 2010 at 10:28 am
Not sure where this is… google maps can’t find “Faimham Street.” Calling it Castaic is funny… it’s supposedly past Templin Highway! I guess anything nort of Magic Mountain and south of Gorman (or sometimes Bakersfield!) is called “Castaic” by non-locals.
mikeJanuary 13, 2010 at 5:22 pm
this is the most awesome story ever. It deserves more.
RichardJanuary 25, 2010 at 9:25 am
I can’t seem to find the 31000 block of Faimham Street anywhere in Castaic or SCV, leading me to doubt the veracity of this story.
RichardJanuary 25, 2010 at 9:33 am
Oh, one more thing, another suspicious thing about this story is the fact that no arrests were made. No arrests were made at a location that does not exist. Interesting.
mikeJanuary 25, 2010 at 9:37 am
I looked hard for this location as well. My guess is either the police can a phony address to keep people from snooping around of that this street was a tiny little private road, an offshoot of the main road, or maybe an offshoot of an offshoot.
RichardJanuary 25, 2010 at 9:42 am
One more thing then I’ll quit: “In what industry officials are calling the largest theft ring in their company’s history”. I challenge anyone to make sense of this sentence. Complete gibberish. This back-asswards sentence structure was obviously written by someone that is not a “Industry Official”. In real life, the cops would have kept this place under surveillance, one of the vehicles had been stolen about a week earlier. This story sounds very fishy.