Pico Rivera : City Launches Crackdown on Junked, Unused Vehicles

Pico Rivera public works crews are patrolling the streets looking for cars with broken or missing parts, flat tires and those that have sat unused for extended periods.

Since January, the city has required owners of about 335 cars, trucks and motorcycles to repair them or remove them from public view.

The crews are enforcing a city code that bans wrecked and abandoned vehicles from city neighborhoods, said Mary Espinoza, who oversees the program.

Espinoza said the effort to remove more junk cars comes after a rise in complaints from residents. Last year, 250 cars were removed; in 1991, 230 cars were removed.