The NYPD and the Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced on Thursday that they have made twenty arrests after a years-long investigation into an extensive car theft ring. “They are some of the most active car thieves that we have seen in New York and they have wreaked havoc on unsuspecting car owners across the state,” Katz told reporters in a press conference.
According to officials, the crew initially went for easy targets like motorcycles, or cars that had been left with the keys inside. Over time, the techniques expanded, as the thieves got their hands on blank key fobs, “something you can do very easily online.” They used these along with a device meant to access vehicles’ diagnostic computer (another gadget easily found online) to reprogram the car to their new fob. The thieves were also careful to remove any tracking devices on the stolen vehicles and to disable their GPS tracking where needed. Vehicles were advertised on social media for prices ranging from $1,000 to $6,000.
The group of nine car thieves worked as part of a larger crew “with defined roles and a clear hierarchy,” according to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch. She explained that they were joined by two brokers, who took orders for cars down to the make and even color of the vehicle; sellers, who forged paperwork and altered or concealed the cars’ VIN numbers; and buyers who would pay for the stolen vehicles and arrange for their transport, in some cases as far as Tennessee.
Tisch kept the victims of the crime in focus. “It’s important to note these were not high-end luxury cars. This crew targeted regular vehicles driven by everyday New Yorkers who relied on them to get to work, to take their kids to school and just to live their lives.” In all, the crew stole 38 Acuras, 24 Hondas, 23 BMWs, twenty Dodges, and three Land Rovers, as well as several other vehicles. 44 of these cars were sold to undercover officers. The total value of all 126 vehicles stolen comes to $4.6 million
Queens DA Melinda Katz implored car buyers to use their best judgment. “If it’s too good to be true it probably is,” she told reporters. “So, if you see a car that you know has a book value of forty thousand dollars being sold for one to six thousand dollars, you know there are probably issues with that vehicle.” Tisch preferred summing up the story with a laconic statement of victory: “the game is over. They lose.”
