The El Paso County Sheriff's Office says they are looking for more victims of what they are calling a chop shop. That's where stolen cars are stripped and sold for parts. Sheriff's investigators say the victim of a car theft led them to Sierra Iron and Metals Inc.,saying their car was inside, damaged with parts missing.

Deputies eventually arrested the owner of the shop, Jaime Gandara, who is Socorro City Council Member Jesse Gandara Jr's cousin. 

Jaime Gandara says his metal business is not a chop shop. He says a longtime customer sold him a car so he could resell the metal for scrap.

"The gentleman brought in the car and was supposed to bring back the title to get paid," Sierra Metal and Iron owner Jaime Gandara said.

The sheriff's office says the car was stolen.

"You don't picture a person stealing a car for 250 bucks. There's a Texas DMV website that we plug in the VIN number to see if the car is stolen or not. If a car is reported stolen two or three days later, or a week late, a lot of times we wouldn't have found out if it was stolen the moment the car came in," Jaime Gandara said.

The stolen car was allegedly damaged and missing parts.

"We dismantle cars, but we don't sell parts. We dismantle the cars for the remelt," Gandara said.

Gandara and his manager, Jennifer Martinez, were charged with fraudulent transfer of a motor vehicle. He has been in trouble before for allegedly passing hot checks

"Sometimes you get in trouble and try to stretch the dollar," said Gandara.

He says this time, he thought he was getting a square deal.

"Our gates are wide open. You can see straight through our property. We're not hiding anything here," said Gandara.

He says the person who tried to sell him the car was also arrested. Gandara says he is going to fight this charge.