Two Suspects Arrested for Grand Theft

On March 8th at 12:30pm, an off-duty Whittier Police Officer was passing by 10041 Norwalk Blvd. (Cascade Co construction site) when he saw two male Hispanic adults in the corner of the construction site taking rebar metal and pipes from the site. One suspect was handing the material over the fence to the other suspect who was loading the material into the pick up truck being used by the suspects. The Officer watched the suspects drive away while he phoned dispatch to relay information for patrol unit support. Officers responding to the location of the fleeing truck and performed a felony traffic stop, detaining the suspects for investigation of grand theft and or burglary. Both suspects were arrested and transported to jail for booking while other patrol units previously confirmed the theft at the construction site. The suspect vehicle was impounded as evidence due to the large amount of metal in the truck’s bed, coupled with the inability to unload and store the stolen / recovered metal. The construction site superintendant responded and met with Officers and confirmed the suspected stolen property was the property of Cascade Company and Laughbach Construction Co. Both suspects were Spanish speaking only and were identified as Mario De Jesus Chavez Espinoza (04/06/79), from Whittier and Victor Chavez Sanchez (01/27/60) also of Whittier.