Chicago Chop Shop Busted by Cops May Have Shipped Parts Overseas

A family combing their Chicago neighborhood for a stolen truck may have led police to a theft ring at a salvage yard where stolen cars and trucks were scrapped for parts.

After finding the truck parked at Adelman’s Truck & Equipment, the owner called police. Chicago Police raided the yard Monday and found as many as 100 stolen vehicles, some of them crushed.

A sophisticated chop shop operation may have been shipping parts overseas, sources told WGN News.

Many of the vehicles were commercial trucks owned by contractors and plumbing companies, a source told the Chicago Tribune.

Police shut down the yard, owned by Adelman's Truck and Equipment, 3033 E. 106th St. in the South Deering community. As of Tuesday morning, one person is in custody. Police believe the stolen car-and-truck ring is affiliated with a towing company and has been operating for at least six months in the area.

"It could be scores and scores, dozens and dozens of people" involved, a source told the Chicago Tribune.

Melvin Williams, a home rehabber, told CBS Chicago his van was stolen from his South Side home just a few days ago. After seeing his truck in a TV news story about the raid on the scrap yard, he came to look.

"I know I saw it on TV this morning, so I came down here to get it," Williams said. "I rehab houses, so I need the van. I’ve got tools in it, and everything."

Adelman's is one of the nation's largest salvagers and sellers of used truck parts. The company is based in Canton, Ohio.