Bridgeview Police arrest two suspects in major chop shop crackdown

The Bridgeview Police announced Tuesday, July 1, 2025, that two suspects have been taken into custody following a police raid of an illegal chop shop at 10024 S. Harlem Avenue.

The Police raid took place in the early morning hours on Monday at the public storage location.

Among stolen items recovered were: 3 stolen vehicles in different stages of disassembly; 5 engines with attached transmissions; and, numerous auto part components.

“We recovered these items in 5 different storage units,” Bridgeview Police Chief Ricardo Mancha said.

stolen cars recovered by Bridgeview Police in ChopShop raid, June 30 2025. Photo courtesy of the Bridgeview Police

“This is an ongoing investigation. Bridgeview Police received and responded to a call of suspicious activity at the Public Storage facility. Upon arrival, we encountered several individuals who were taken into custody.”

A third suspect is being investigated.

Mancha said the Bridgeview Police Department coordinated the raid with the Illinois Statewide Auto Theft Task Force (ISATT) and the Major Case Unit (Palos Heights, Palos Hills, Worth, and Chicago Ridge), which provided additional investigative assistance, taking photos, attempting to ID all parts, and inventorying all parts.

Mancha said the investigation is ongoing.

“The police officers and investigators have done a great job,” Mancha said.

“But without that individual calling it in, we may not have come across this. So a big thank you to them.”

stolen auto parts recovered by Bridgeview Police in ChopShop raid, June 30 2025. Photo courtesy of the Bridgeview Police

Click here to subscribe FREE to Ray Hanania's Columns

Author
Recent Posts

Ray Hanania

Ray Hanania is an award-winning opinion columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.

His award winning columns can be found at www.HANANIA.COM Subscribe FREE today

Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.

Email Ray Hanania at [email protected].

Follow RayHanania at Twitter