2 Men Held in Car Theft Ring Investigation

Authorities searched six San Fernando Valley sites Thursday and arrested a chiropractor and another man on suspicion of running a car theft and insurance fraud ring.

Self-employed auto repairman Rouhel Feinstein, 50, of Sherman Oaks and chiropractor Niloofar Javaherian, 34, of Encino were both arrested without incident at 8:30 a.m. Five others were detained later in the day.

Stolen cars valued at more than $1 million had been seized by Thursday afternoon, Glendale Police Sgt. Rick Young said.

A team of investigators-- agents of the FBI, National Insurance Crime Bureau and officers with the Glendale, Burbank and Los Angeles police departments--searched the suspects’ homes, two Van Nuys auto body shops, a Canoga Park pawnshop and Javaherian’s Encino chiropractic office.

While officials were unsure how long the alleged ring had been in operation, they said the group stole cars throughout Los Angeles County.

Young said members of the alleged ring crashed cars into other motorists to collect insurance. Conspirators then allegedly went to Javaherian, who filed inflated insurance claims and false medical reports, authorities said. Cars were allegedly sold by the auto and pawnshops.

“We’re talking about a large-scale operation with high-end vehicles,” Young said. “They weren’t taking your Hondas.”

Young cited ringleaders’ expensive homes as evidence of their success. Javaherian lived in the 3600 block of Ballina Canyon Road in Encino and Feinstein in the 14800 block of Valley Vista Boulevard in Sherman Oaks.

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Resident Susan Motter said she had not noticed any suspicious activity in the upscale Sherman Oaks neighborhood, which is regularly patrolled.

“It would be pretty stupid for anyone to do anything illegal here,” Motter said. Although none of the sites searched were in Glendale, Young said the monthlong investigation originated from stolen-car claims in Glendale.

“We just followed the trail from incidents here to the key players,” he said.

Also searched were Van Nuys Motors in the 14400 block of Oxnard Street, Silver Arrow Collision Center in the 14200 block of Oxnard Street in Van Nuys, Javaherian’s office at 16101 Ventura Blvd. in Encino and Collateral Partners Pawn Shop at 21900 Sherman Way in Canoga Park.

Javaherian and Feinstein were both being held Thursday at the Glendale Police Department in lieu of $30,000 bail.