27 arrested in fix-it ticket scheme tied to illegal street racing, accused ringleader charged: CHP
ORANGE, Calif. (KABC) -- A Southern California street-racing promoter allegedly ran a ticket-fixing scheme that got hundreds of citations for vehicle violations dismissed, California Highway Patrol officials said Wednesday.
Authorities say Angel Zahid Sanchez-Peralta forged stamps and signatures of law enforcement officers - some of them retired - to clear citations for illegal modifications and smog-check violations among others.
Sanchez-Peralta came to the attention of law enforcement in part by advertising his services online. It also raised further questions when names of retired officers showed up on some paperwork.
Conversations on social media released by law enforcement show him charging $300 to get some tickets cleared.
He was arrested and charged in Orange County with nearly three dozen felonies in August.
"What they were doing was procuring false legal stamps, having them made," said Capt. Gil Campa with the CHP. "Basically falsifying officers' signatures on the back of citations. They would take that citation to a law enforcement office to show it was corrected and it was processed at that point through the court system."
Now investigators have identified and arrested 27 drivers accused of using his services.
Investigators with the California Highway Patrol say more than 250 tickets issued during street-racing operations in Los Angeles and Orange counties were illegally cleared by the street-racing promoter.
As to whether actual members of law enforcement investigation helped out with the scheme? The CHP says the matter remains under investigation.
