Three OKC Men Accused Of Operating Chop Shop

A traffic stop led police to a suspected chop shop in Southwest Oklahoma City. Three men, Manuel Hoffman, 30; Jaime Hoffman, 28; and Victor Hoffman, 35, are in jail accused of operating the illegal business.

Police said the three men operated the chop shop out of their businesses.

Police arrested Manuel Hoffman Tuesday night after a traffic stop near Interstate 35 and Southeast 66th Street. Officers determined the vehicle Hoffman was driving was stolen. The Ford F-250 was reported stolen out of Norman in May 2016.

“The truck had swapped VIN plates,” said Msgt. Gary Knight. “Ended up being a stolen vehicle operated or changed over at a chop shop on south I-35.”

Police took Hoffman to his Southwest Oklahoma City auto body shop, Color Creations, and served a search warrant.   

Police later arrested the Jaime and Victor, the owners of a car lot located just south of Manuel’s body shop.

“There were three businesses right there in about the 6000 block of I-35,” said Knight. “Were all basically in cahoots with one another running a chop shop out of that place.”

News 9 visited the businesses Wednesday afternoon. The body shop was open but employees would not comment on camera about the owner or if they knew about a chop shop. The door to the car lot building was locked and there were no lights on.

All three suspects face multiple charges including operating a chop shop and receiving stolen property. Auto theft detectives also recovered other stolen property at the businesses.

“At least two vehicles and a trailer were recovered yesterday,” said Knight.  

Police said this is an ongoing investigation.