California DMV ripped me out of my parts.

Two years ago a friend of mine in California was at a show and shine with his 71 Challenger when a non-resident, unlicensed, uninsured driver lost control and hit three cars at the show., including his. He found a wrecked 71 in North Dakota near where he grew up, bought it, and hauled it to CA. He removed the parts required to fix his car and has been selling a few parts from the remainder since his was fixed. He recently sold a part to someone in Wyoming and that reminded him to contact me about a sway bar and related parts he removed from a 66 Dart years ago to make a drag car. He was going to give them to me if I paid shipping. The plan was that he would take them to Fed Ex next Friday and ship them and let me know the cost. Someone recently turned him in to the California DMV for dismantling a car without a license, probably based on a few items he listed for sale in various places. The cops showed up at his place Monday and confiscated the Challenger he was parting, even though he had the title, and all of the parts for the 66 Dart he had left, including the sway bar. They turned it all over to a licensed dismanteler. He called to tell me the bad news on the sway bar tonight. He now has to pay a fine and appear before a judge for dismantling a car he owned.
Gotta love the laws in California......