OAKLAND — Three suspected members of a prolific East Bay auto theft crew have all taken plea deals, including one who pleaded no contest to killing a man during a dispute over a stolen Lexus.
The plea deals center on a warehouse on the 800 block of 100th Avenue in Oakland, which was raided by police twice last year; in January, an Alameda County Sheriff’s auto theft task force identified it as a local chop shop and found high end stolen cars — a gas tanker, a BMW outfitted to resemble a police car, and what one prosecutor described as “ammunition located all over the property,” after a lengthy SWAT standoff. The second raid came last December, this time headed by the FBI and Oakland police who were responding to a much more grisly tip: they believed two men had been killed and buried on the grounds.
No human remains were found during the December raids. The two men, 30-year-old Justin Wayne Lee or 35-year-old Esmeraldo Hernandez Vivero, have not been seen or heard from since May 15, 2025. At least two witnesses told police they were on their way to return a car they’d stolen from two operators of the chop shop when they vanished.
Two of the plea deals stemmed from the January 2025 raid. Natasha Simons, 30, and Andrew Trujillo, 46, both pleaded no contest to involvement in a car chase and were sentenced to two years felony probation and time they’d already spent in jail, court records show. Trujillo still has an unresolved misdemeanor domestic violence case alleging he slapped a woman in the face.
For the past year, prosecutors have moved to keep Trujillo in jail over and over, rebutting a defense argument that he has “learned his lesson.” Deputy District Attorney Matthew Foley said Trujillo’s involvement in the SWAT standoff alone demonstrates that he is a “danger.”
“He gets out. He commits new crimes. He’s associating with other felons,” Foley said at a bail hearing last December, days before the raid by the FBI and Oakland police.
Trujillo’s friends and family rejected this notion, writing support letters that described him as an “outstanding and upstanding citizen” who “has consistently demonstrated integrity, reliability and genuine kindness.” One letter, authored by Trujillo’s daughter, said the court was being misled about her dad.
“He’s the most loving caring person I know and watching the way the court has explained who he is or try to make him sound hurts my feeling because that is NOT who my father is,” the letter says.
Eight stolen cars were found during the January raid. Police also arrested a suspect hiding on the property, Juan Montiel, 25, who on Monday was sentenced to 10 years in state prison for killing 25-year-old Kody Johnston. Originally charged with murder, Montiel pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter in exchange for a more lenient sentence, court records show.
At Montiel’s preliminary hearing last year, Johnston’s girlfriend testified about the dispute that led to Johnston’s death. She said that she and most of her acquaintances were part of a group that routinely steals cars, and that one member of the theft ring — who went by “Killer” — stole her and Johnston’s truck but gave them a stolen Lexus to make it right. Montiel, apparently irate over Johnston possessing the Lexus, allegedly tracked him down and shot him.
Montiel had previously beaten Johnston with a handgun for offering to do a favor for Montiel’s then-girlfriend, Simons, according to testimony at the preliminary hearing. Police also allege that Simons recruited Lee and Vivero to steal cars for the theft ring, but that the two men went rogue by eventually scheming to steal two vehicles, including a GMC Suburban, from their own cohorts.
Vivero is described as Latino, about 5-foot-6 inches tall, 125 pounds, with brown eyes and brown hair. He has a tattoo of a diamond on his left cheek, a “510” tattoo on his left arm and was last seen with unshaven facial hair. Lee, who was known to frequent East Oakland, is described as Asian, about 5-foot-10 inches tall and weighing about 170 pounds, with brown eyes and black hair. He has “Clazbo” tattooed on his right forearm.
Anyone with information about Lee can contact the San Leandro Police Department at 510-577-2740. Tips about Vivero can be sent to the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office at 510-667-3699.