Bicycle 'Chop Shop' Discovered In Culver City Homeless Encampment

CULVER CITY, CA — A bicycle theft in Culver City on Wednesday led police to a makeshift "chop shop" and arrest of a suspect, police said.

Police went to the Culver City Julian Dixon Library, 4975 Overland Ave., around 2 p.m. to investigate a report of a bike theft. When officers checked the area, they located the stolen bicycle with a suspect in a homeless encampment under a bridge in the area of Ballona Creek and Centinela Avenue.

"A search of the encampment revealed that it was being used as a makeshift chop-shop for bicycles," Culver City Police Department said in a statement. "The detectives recovered welding equipment, paint and tools commonly used to piece bicycles together."

Detectives also recovered approximately 50 bicycles that are believed to be stolen. No information about the arrested suspect was released.

— Photo courtesy of the CCPD