Arizona Laws 13-4702. Conducting a chop shop; exception; violation; classification
A. A person shall not knowingly:
Terms Used In Arizona Laws 13-4702
- Chop shop: means any building, lot or other premises in which one or more persons alters, destroys, disassembles, dismantles, reassembles or stores at least one motor vehicle or watercraft or two or more motor vehicle or watercraft parts from at least one vehicle or watercraft that the person or persons knows were obtained by theft, fraud or conspiracy to defraud with the intent to:
(a) Alter, counterfeit, deface, destroy, disguise, falsify, forge, obliterate or remove the identity of the motor vehicles or motor vehicle parts, including the vehicle identification number for the purpose of misrepresenting or preventing the identification of the motor vehicles or motor vehicle parts. See Arizona Laws 13-4701
- Felony: means an offense for which a sentence to a term of imprisonment in the custody of the state department of corrections is authorized by any law of this state. See Arizona Laws 13-105
- Knowingly: means , with respect to conduct or to a circumstance described by a statute defining an offense, that a person is aware or believes that the person's conduct is of that nature or that the circumstance exists. See Arizona Laws 13-105
- Motor vehicle: means any self-propelled vehicle. See Arizona Laws 13-4701
- Person: means a human being and, as the context requires, an enterprise, a public or private corporation, an unincorporated association, a partnership, a firm, a society, a government, a governmental authority or an individual or entity capable of holding a legal or beneficial interest in property. See Arizona Laws 13-105
- Possess: means knowingly to have physical possession or otherwise to exercise dominion or control over property. See Arizona Laws 13-105
- Vehicle: means a device in, upon or by which any person or property is, may be or could have been transported or drawn upon a highway, waterway or airway, excepting devices moved by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. See Arizona Laws 13-105
- Vehicle identification number: means the number that the manufacturer or the United States or a state department of transportation assigns to a motor vehicle for the purpose of identifying the motor vehicle or a major component part of the motor vehicle. See Arizona Laws 13-4701
1. Own or operate a chop shop.
2. Transport a motor vehicle or motor vehicle part to or from a chop shop.
3. Sell or transfer to or purchase or receive from a chop shop a motor vehicle or motor vehicle part.
4. Remove, destroy, deface or otherwise alter a vehicle identification number with the intent to misrepresent or prevent the identification of the motor vehicle or motor vehicle part.
5. Buy, sell, transfer or possess a motor vehicle or motor vehicle part knowing that the motor vehicle identification number, which was placed on the motor vehicle or motor vehicle part by the manufacturer, has been removed, destroyed, defaced or otherwise altered.
B. This section does not apply to law enforcement authorities and lawful owners acting in good faith, towing companies or scrap processors, licensed automotive recyclers and other businesses acting in good faith and in the normal course of business and in conformance with all applicable laws.
C. A person who violates subsection A, paragraph 1 of this section is guilty of a class 2 felony. A person who violates subsection A, paragraph 2, 3, 4 or 5 of this section is guilty of a class 4 felony.