California Cops Arrested for Stealing Hundreds of Cars from Poor People

A few more ‘bad apples’ have been arrested for using and their police authority to wrongly impound, also known as steal, over 200 cars. The officers involved are currently on paid vacation awaiting trial.

KING CITY, Calif. — Police officers in a Central California town took part in a scheme in which cars belonging to poor Hispanic people were impounded, towed and later sold or given away for free to some officers when the car owners couldn’t pay the fees, authorities said Tuesday.


Four officers — including the recently retired police chief and the acting chief in King City — have been arrested, and two others were also arrested Tuesday on unrelated charges, Monterey County District Attorney Dean Flippo said.

The probe revealed that more than 200 vehicles had been impounded and that 87 percent had been taken in by the same towing company.

In some cases, authorities said, officers simply kept the cars for their own use.

The four officers tied to the alleged car theft scheme have each been charged with bribery, accepting a bribe or embezzlement. They are Sgt. Bobby Javier Carillo, Acting Chief Bruce Edward Miller, former Chief Dominic David Baldiviez and Mario Alonso Mottu Sr.