27 in OC arrested for getting fix-it tickets signed off fraudulently by LA man, authorities say

More than two dozen people associated with street racing or sideshows were arrested Tuesday, Dec. 6 after California Highway Patrol officers found they had their fix-it tickets fraudulently signed off to avoid large repair fees, authorities said.

Investigators identified the 27 Orange County residents and took them into custody months after arresting Angel Zahid Sanchez-Peralta, 31, of Los Angeles, who is accused of forging the signature of a retired CHP officer.

Sanchez-Peralta was identified by CHP as a street-racing promoter. He is accused of signing off on more than 250 citations, charging $300 each, Capt. Gil Campa said Wednesday outside the CHP’s Santa Ana station house.

The drivers, who were cited by CHP and other local law enforcement agencies because their vehicles were not up to legal snuff, would then take the signed-off tickets to the courthouse and pay the court fee to resolve the ticket, Campa said.

In some cases, the cost to fix the modifications to their cars would have cost thousands of dollars, officials said.

In most cases, the drivers met Sanchez-Peralta in person, but sometimes mailed the citations to him, officials said.

Investigators became aware of the scheme when the court reached out and said the signature of a retired officer had been showing up on the tickets, Campa said.

From there, they found Sanchez-Peralta’s Instagram page, where he not only promoted street-racing and sideshow events, authorities said, but also promoted the illegal sign-off services.

“That was our first step in the door, so to speak,” Campa said. “Some of the posts … piqued our interest.”

Sanchez-Peralta was arrested in August, officials said. The Orange County District Attorney’s Office has since filed 33 felony counts of attempting to file a forged instrument to a public office and one felony count of attempting to procure or offer false or forged instrument for record, officials said.

Investigators identified the 27 Orange County residents who were arrested after serving a search warrant for Sanchez-Peralta’s Instagram account, where most of his communications took place, authorities said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.