Arrest Count Rises After Discovery of Automobile Chop Shop

Police recently announced the arrest of a second Yonkers man for his alleged involvement in a Fairfield, New Jersey chop shop operation.

Chop Shop discovered

Police raided Veracity Stone Fabricators in Fairfield, New Jersey on January 30, after receiving a tip from a cleaning staff member. They found ample evidence of illegal activity including stolen and disassembled vehicles. Stacy Chiarolanza, Fairfield Police Department’s public information officer, issued a description of the scene.

There were several cars, just the shells of the cars, nothing, literally nothing in them in the parking lot covered in tarps. There was another vehicle inside the building itself completely stripped down […] You name it, how you would expect to see a chop shop and that’s exactly what this looked like.

The vehicles found were exclusively Honda CRVs, in the process of being disassembled for sale on the black market. Many of the vehicles also had their Vehicle Identification Number defaced, further indication of attempts at concealing their stolen origin. At least two of the vehicles had been stolen from New York State.

The raid led to the immediate arrest of three individuals in the vicinity of the property. One of them 37-year-old Yonkers resident Edison Cuevas, who police suspect played a large role particularly in the dismantling of several vehicles on the morning of January 29. Cuevas remains at Essex County jail on charges of receiving stolen motor vehicles, operating a facility for the sale of stolen automobile parts, and conspiracy to operate such a facility. He awaits his upcoming court appearance.

New Arrest

Last week, authorities announced the arrest of a second Yonkers man accused of participating in the chop shop operation. Virelsa Guzman is also currently being held at Essex County jail awaiting a court appearance. Local law enforcement accuses him of running the illegal operation, as well as stealing a car. He faces many of the same charges as Cuevas.

The discovery of the illegal chop shop has local residents and authorities on edge as officers continue to investigate the operation. The arrest of Guzman is just the latest development as police are now working to determine how long the chop shop was in operation as well as if it was part of a larger network. Officer Chiarolanza commented on the potential scale of the case, “ This could be big. I don’t know how big it could be, but I think we’re only at the tip of the iceberg “.