Irvine man arrested for putting fake VINs on stolen luxury cars and then reselling them

A police detective has been working a complex auto theft operation, which led to an arrest yesterday, according to the Irvine Police Department.

The suspect purchased stolen luxury cars and replaced the vehicle identification numbers (VIN) with fraudulent, fake VINs. He then sold the stolen vehicles.

Yesterday, with the help of patrol officers, the tenacious detective stopped the suspect driving a stolen Durango SRT with an altered VIN plate.

A stolen McLaren with an altered VIN was found at his residence in Woodbridge.

During the investigation, fraudulent VIN plates, license plates, and checks were recovered alongside three unregistered firearms.

Zihua Zhang, 37, of Irvine, was booked at Orange County Jail on a garden variety of charges.