LOS ANGELES — A business owner has been charged with selling millions of dollars worth of merchandise that authorities say was stolen from a train this summer, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said Tuesday.
Dojoon Park, 41, of Montebello, is charged with six felony counts of receipt of stolen property worth over $950, along with allegations of losses of more than $500,000, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Special agents from Union Pacific discovered that a train car full of consumer goods had been burglarized in Long Beach in July, authorities said. The investigation led authorities to more than $5 million in stolen items such as tools, household appliances and e-bikes that were allegedly being sold online and at Park’s DJ General Tool and Wire stores in Montebello and Huntington Park, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Park was initially arrested by Los Angeles police Aug. 14 and then booked and released the same day. He was taken into custody again Monday in a downtown Los Angeles courthouse with bail set at $225,000 with a hold in place to ensure that the source of any bail money is not tied to any criminal operation, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Park — who has pleaded not guilty — could face up to 11 years in state prison if convicted as charged, authorities said.
“Cargo theft is not a victimless crime. The stolen merchandise enters our commerce and affects real businesses and real employees,” District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement announcing the charges. “Thefts from our ports also erode the reputation of our world-class port in Los Angeles.”
The Los Angeles Police Department said last month that detectives from the LAPD’s Commercial Crimes Division, Organized Retail and Cargo Theft Unit led the investigation, with Union Pacific Police Department and Los Angeles Port Police investigators assisting in the service of search warrants at DJ General Tool and Wire in the 1200 block of South Greenwood Avenue in Montebello and in the 1900 block of East Gage Avenue in Huntington Park.
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said in a statement last month that the case is a “powerful example of what law enforcement can achieve when we work together.”
The police chief said organized cargo theft “strikes at the heart of our economy, impacting local businesses, workers, and everyday families” and asserted that the operation underscores the department’s commitment to dismantling criminal networks that profit from stolen goods.
Police said last month that the investigation was continuing, with detectives anticipating possible additional arrests.