Everybody loves a sweet family business story. But this father-and-son chop shop isn’t that sort of family business. Miami police raided a property with a suspicious stash of high dollar vehicles and parts. Turns out a mechanic employed by the city was chopping up vehicles likely stolen by his son. On the first sweep, police founds nearly $500k in stolen “major component parts” re-used to modify legal cars. Here’s everything recovered from the two men’s houses so far.

• 2018 Jeep Trackhawk – Stolen from the Hard Rock Casino in September 2024; parts found in another Jeep on Mena Crespo’s property.
• 2021 Dodge Durango Hellcat – Stolen from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in May 2024; parts found in a Durango on Mena Crespo’s property.
• Dodge Charger – Stolen from a home on Flagler Drive in Miami Springs in November 2024; parts found in a Chrysler 300.
• 2023 Chevrolet Camaro – Stolen from Dolphin Mall in Sweetwater in March 2024; parts found in a 1955 Buick.
• Dodge Durango Hellcat – Stolen from Hialeah on March 30; found intact on Mena Gonzalez’s property (claimed to be bought for $5,000).
• 2019 Dodge Challenger – Stolen from The Boulevard, 5700 Biscayne Boulevard in Miami, in November 2023; parts found in a 2018 Dodge Challenger previously sold by Mena Crespo.

How Miami chop shop made one car out of two

An apparent pattern emerged. It seems 26-year-old Jose Yamil Mena Gonzalez stole multiple high-dollar muscle cars and SUVs. For example, it was his phone that authorities tracked to Hialeah on the day the Durango was stolen and to the Miami casino when the Jeep disappeared. In addition, the complete Durango Hellcat that had been stolen was on his property.

Mena Gonzalez claimed he’d bought the rare, supercharged SUV for $5k, then the buyer had conveniently vanished. That exact vehicle resold last year for $110k. Someone had pulled the horn wires through the grille to silence the alarm. They’d also methodically punctured the passenger-side window.

As if his story wasn’t suspicious enough, his backyard shed contained body panels from many of the stolen vehicles listed above. This included fenders and bumpers from multiple Chargers and the stolen Camaro.

So it looks like after Mena Gonzalez stole these vehicles, then disassembled them at his place. Why? To get at “major component parts.” This may include the V8 engines and performance transmissions in these special edition vehicles.

Meanwhile, 57-year-old Jose Osvaldo Mena Crespo’s Miami property was full of cheaper vehicles with components from the stolen vehicles incorporated. So he likely dropped these powerful–even supercharged–drivetrains into legitimately-bought vehicles to resell. He’d also turned back most of the odometers. A 190,595 Jeep’s odometer read 33,007 miles. And a 81,060-mile Durango showed just 3,781 miles.

Mena Crespa’s day job is as a heavy-duty mechanic, maintaining vehicles for the City of Miami General Service Administration. The two might have kept the gig up longer if they’d kept up with unloading the cars. But police started to notice the modified cars piling up and noted “inconsistencies” as the two doctored them up to sell.