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From stories about free parts and helpful staff to the sheer pleasure of just looking around Inventory of Los Angeles DismantlerThere is no shortage of love for this salvage company and its outgoing owner, Sara “Porsche” Daarmen – so much love, in fact, that many in the community are surprised by the recent decision to close and liquidate its massive inventory.
That also aroused our curiosity and that’s why we decided to take a look beneath the surface. The salvage yard has a imperfect online reputationbut the preponderance of five-star reviews (repeated on Google) makes it look exactly like the community staple many claim it to be. But deep in the one-star column we found cryptic references to the company’s co-founder and now previous co-owner, Troud Stroud Dakarmenjian, aka Todd Daarmen, and the possibility that some of the hard-to-find Porsche parts from the dealer less than legal origin. But reliable information about the now-deceased Dakarmenjian, or any evidence of impropriety, is surprisingly difficult to come by.
Some things we know for sure: Daarmenjian was deeply involved in the Porsche DIY community. To many, both he and his wife Sara, co-founder of LA Dismantler and current owner/operator, are household names. Or ‘were’, at least. Todd Dakarmenjian died in police custody in 2017. What led to Troud’s sudden death and what does that have to do with the sale of LA Dismantler? For that we have to go much further back.
Daarmenjian was arrested at least a half-dozen times* in Los Angeles County alone between 1990 and 2016; most of that came after he opened LA Dismantler in 1998, including an arrest in 2007 for (among other things) illegally operating a chop shop and another in 2008 for VIN fraud. Both were eventually dismissed, the first for lack of probable cause; the latter “in furtherance of justice,” which appears to be a legal term for “cleaning out the justice system to focus on the killers.”
Things really got messy in 2011, when he was arrested on a host of weapons charges, including unlawfully possessing or transporting a machine gun. He was ultimately acquitted on that count, but found guilty of three other weapons offense charges. Remember, this all happened in California, which has aggressive gun regulations. He was given fines, jail time and, crucially, three years of probation. That sentencing hearing took place in January 2016.
Barely months later, Dakarmenjian was back in court. He was already on probation for the previous crimes and faced new charges including VIN tampering, receiving stolen property and operating a diner. We have not seen the supporting material, but based on the summaries of the charges and convictions available in public records, it appears Dakarmenjian struck a deal that would limit his additional sentence to extended probation in exchange for pleading guilty for no contest to these three charges. It is not clear from the available documentation whether there were any additional provisions in that agreement (such as cooperation). This left Dakarmenjian on probation for convictions in two separate felony cases.
Legally, a no contest plea is not an admission of guilt; it is simply a refusal to respond to the charge in question. Without corroborating evidence, there is nothing in the case summary linking his indictment to the LA Dismantler operations. Still, Dakarmenjian’s file paints a picture of a man who walked at least a fine line.
It all came to a head on May 18, 2017, when officers simultaneously conducted “probation compliance checks” at Dakarmenjian’s home — which he shared with his wife and four children — and at the dealership. At his home they found numerous firearms, some of which were unlocked, 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 booked for violating his probation, in addition to new charges based on evidence from the raids. Sara was also arrested on suspicion of child endangerment as a result of the unsecured firearms. That charge was ultimately dismissed. In fact, neither would stand trial.
As for what the police found at LA Dismantler: “At Dakarmenjian’s Porsche dismantling facility in Sun Valley, police recovered additional firearms and bulk ammunition in his private office. Parts from several active, outstanding stolen Porsche vehicles were recovered from the company yard.”
Dakarmenjian would again be charged with running a diner. But on the first day of detention, Troud hanged himself with his own shirt. He was found unconscious by guards and taken to a hospital, where he later died; the investigation (linked above) found no signs of foul play and Dakarmenjian gave no indication that he was suicidal. Perhaps out of compassion, the city dropped charges against Sara. With Troud’s death, the responsibility for running LA Dismantler fell to her.
But while the 2017 incident attracted attention suspicions within the Porsche community, Dakarmenjian’s death meant the end of everything public accusations against LA Dismantler and we can’t find any evidence to suggest Sara 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 several of the family trust properties, including the LA Dismantler site, to himself. When the forgeries were discovered, the Sara family (who inherited Troud’s assets) sued for fraudulently appropriating the property. A banking process took place at the end of 2019; the judge ultimately ruled in favor of the family in April 2020.
Earlier this year, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office announced that Sara would have to liquidate businesses to compensate the family, along with a nearly $1.6 million judgment handed down in a separate 2017 case in which Troud (and by Since they were married, Sara) was found to have used stolen money to purchase several luxury vehicles, including a Porsche CarreraGT. Right around this time, Sara started recruiting candidates for a new business partner (sic):
“Are you a Porsche collector or car enthusiast with a passion for Porsche and do you have the ambition to start your own business or expand your existing business? Looking for a dynamic and capable partner to be part of our successful Porsche parts business, a unique opportunity.”
That call was repeated several times on social media in September and October. Just before Thanksgiving, it was replaced by news that the store was going bankrupt “after seven years of perseverance following the sudden loss” of Dakarmenjian.
So far, LA Dismantler has not responded to specific questions about the closure, inviting the community to draw its own conclusions. We will offer nothing of ourselves; we only know what we have shared with you. We reached out to Sara to ask her thoughts on the upcoming closure, but at the time of publication we had not received a response. We’d love to hear about your experiences with LA Dismantler, good or bad, so please get in touch if you have any stories to share.
*All cases referenced in this post are public and obtained by The drive through the Los Angeles County Online Service System.
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