King City residents gather at Veronica Villa's, center with red apron, restaurant to discuss a police car theft ring on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2014, in King City, Calif. The district attorney charged four police officers and a civilian in a scheme to steal cars from poor Latinos by having their cars impounded at a local tow yard. When the motorists were unable to pay their fees, the tow yard operator sold the cars or gave them for free to police officers.
The misgivings had been building for some time. Investigators heard people — many unable to speak English — complain that police were taking their cars and money, and there was nothing they could do about it.
"I'm not at all surprised by the arrests, I'm just surprised there weren't more charges," restaurateur Vivian Villa said Wednesday in Spanish while sizzling a pan of beef in preparation for the lunch rush. "Now maybe some of them are going to feel what we feel when they target us."
