‘Trusted’ Porsche Parts Dealer Faces Chop Shop Allegations. It is now for sale


From stories of free parts and attentive staff to the sheer joy of simply browsing Los Angeles Dismantler Inventorythere’s no shortage of love for this junkyard and its departed owner, Sarah “Porsche” Dockerman—so much love, in fact, that many in the community were surprised by the recent decision to close and dispose of its vast inventory.

This also piqued our curiosity, so we decided to look below the surface. The salvage yard has imperfect online reputationbut its preference for five-star reviews (repeated on Google) makes it look like the community staple that many advertise it to be. But deep in one star column we found cryptic references to the company’s co-founder and now previous co-owner, Traud Stroud Dakarmenjian, also known as Todd Dakarmen, and the possibility that some hard-to-find Porsche parts at the dealership were of illegal origin. But it’s surprisingly hard to get reliable information about Dakarmenjian, now deceased, or any evidence of impropriety.

Some things we know for sure: Dakarmenjian has been actively involved with the Porsche DIY community. To many, both he and his wife, Sarah “Porsche” Dockermen—co-founder and current owner/operator of LA Dismantler—are household names. Or at least “were”. Todd Dakarmenjian died in police custody in 2017. What led to Traude’s sudden death and what does this have to do with the sale of LA Dismantler? For that we need to go back much further.

In Los Angeles County alone, between 1990 and 2016, Dakarmenjian was arrested at least half a dozen times*; the bulk of these came after he opened LA Dismantler in 1998, including a 2007 arrest for (among other things) illegally operating a scrap shop and another in 2008 for VIN fraud. Both were ultimately dismissed, the former for lack of good cause; the latter “in furtherance of justice”, which appears to be legitimate and means “unburdening the legal system to focus on the killers”.

Things really took a turn for the worse in 2011, when he was arrested on a number of gun charges, including illegally possessing or transporting an assault rifle. He was eventually acquitted on that count, but convicted of three other weapons-related offenses. Remember, this all happened in California, which has strict gun laws. He was punished with fines, jail time and, critically, three years of probation. A sentencing hearing took place in January 2016.

Just a few months later, Dakarmenjian returned to court. He was already on probation for previous offenses and faced new charges including falsifying a VIN, receiving stolen property and operating a boot shop. We have not seen corroborating material, but based on a summary of the charges and convictions available in public records, it appears that Dakarmenjian took a plea deal limiting his additional sentence to extended probation in exchange for pleading no contest to those three charges. It is not clear from the available documentation whether there were any additional provisions (such as cooperation) in this agreement. That left Dakarmenjian on probation for convictions in two separate felony cases.

Legally, a plea of ​​no contest is not an admission of guilt; it is simply a refusal to consider the question of impeachment. Without corroborating evidence, there is nothing in the case summary linking his allegations to his employment at LA Dismantler. Still, Dakarmenjian’s record paints a picture of a man who, to say the least, walked a fine line.

It all came to a head on May 18, 2017, when officers conducted simultaneous “probation checks” at Dakarmenjian’s home, where he lived with his wife and four children, and at the dealership. They found numerous firearms at his home, some of them unsecured, prompting a call to the Department of Children and Family Services.

He and his wife were at home when the warrant was served. Troud was charged with violating his probation, in addition to new charges based on evidence from the raids. Sarah was also arrested on suspicion of child endangerment due to an unsecured firearm. That charge was eventually dropped. In fact, none of them would appear before the court.

As for that the police found in the LA Dismantler: “At Dakarmenjian’s Porsche wrecking business in Sun Valley, police discovered additional firearms and ammunition in his personal office. Components for several active and stolen Porsche cars were found in the yard of the enterprise.”

Once again, Dakarmenjian will face the charge of running a chop shop. But on the first day of his arrest, Traud hanged himself on his own shirt. Guards found him unresponsive and took him to a hospital, where he later died; the investigation (linked above) found no signs of foul play, and Dakarmenjian gave no hint that he was suicidal. Perhaps out of sympathy, the city dropped the charges against Sarah. With Traude’s death, the responsibility of running the LA Dismantler fell to her.

But so far, the incident of 2017 has awakened suspicions in the Porsche community, Dakarmenjian’s death marked the end of any public accusations vs. LA Dismantler, and we can’t find any evidence that Sarah is involved in anything shady.

If the story ended there, it would be dramatic enough, but after Dakarmenjian’s death, his family learned that he had transferred to himself several properties owned by the family trust, including the LA Dismantler. When the forgeries were discovered, the family sued Sarah (who inherited Trud’s holdings) for fraudulent misappropriation. A trial was convened at the end of 2019; a judge eventually ruled in favor of the family in April 2020.

Earlier this year, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office said Sarah would have to liquidate the holdings to pay family support and a nearly $1.6 million judgment in a separate case dating back to 2017 in which Troud (and, as they are married, Sarah) used the stolen funds to purchase several high-end cars, including Porsche Carrera GT. About this time, Sarah started collecting applicants for a new business partner (also):

Are you a Porsche collector or car enthusiast with a passion for Porsche and intending to start your own business or expand an existing one? Looking for a dynamic and capable partner to join our successful Porsche parts business, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

This call was repeated several times on social media during September and October. Just before Thanksgiving, it was replaced with news of the store’s liquidation “after seven years of persistence following the sudden loss” of Dakarmenjian.

So far, LA Dismantler has not responded to specific requests about the shutdown, leaving the community to draw its own conclusions. We will not offer anything of our own; we only know what we have shared with you. We reached out to Sarah to ask her thoughts on the impending closure, but had not heard back at the time of publication. We’d love to hear about your experiences with LA Dismantler – good or bad – so if you have stories to share, please get in touch.

*All cases referenced in this post are in the public domain and have been sourced Drive through the Los Angeles County Online Service System.

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