‘No burnin out’: Compton tire shop owner graffitis own business in dispute over street takeovers

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A message spray-painted on the side of Jeffrey’s Tires in Compton. Bernardo Lopez, who owns the shop with his mother, said he wrote the words after learning city officials were investigating his business on suspicion of selling tires to street racers who perform burnouts. (Matt Ormseth / Los Angeles Times)

Motorists slowed to gawk at the L.A. County sheriff’s deputies milling around a tire shop in Compton and the large words spray-painted in black across the front of the business: “Dear customers due to SNITCHES no burnin out,” and in Spanish, “no quema” — no burning.

One of the dozen deputies standing outside the business on Rosecrans Avenue — some in khaki uniforms, others in plainclothes with bulletproof vests over their sweatshirts and T-shirts – told a Times reporter on Tuesday they were assisting the city with a “routine inspection.”

Asked about the message left on the wall, the deputy said, “I don’t know anything about that.”

Bernardo Lopez, who owns the tire shop with his mother, told The Times he wrote the message himself after learning city officials were investigating his business on suspicion of selling tires to street racers who have taken over intersections to perform burnouts and other illegal maneuvers.

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