So much for crime paying…
Federal authorities recently announced they arrested a group of thieves who were targeting high-end luxury cars in New York City and the surrounding area. Authorities say they’ve been attempting to track down the thieves, which at certain points involved high-speed chases on highways with the criminals slipping away. But, as they say, the arm of the law is long and they couldn’t get away forever.
Canadian police also busted a luxury car theft ring recently. Check out the details here.
This group even went so far as to target dealerships in Connecticut, particularly Chrysler dealers. They made off with 2 Dodge Charger Hellcats at one point.
Law enforcement officials say back in December when they tried arresting one member of the theft ring, he got away by driving into several FBI cars using a stolen vehicle. When they finally caught up with him, the man was in a New York City apartment with over 30 vehicle key fobs, indicating he and the others were reprogramming vehicles on the spot to accept the new fob, a trick we’ve seen quite a bit lately particularly for luxury car theft. Several license plates, about $89,000 in cash, stolen merchandise, and more were also seized from the apartment.
When the FBI raided an apartment belonging to another member of the car theft ring, one agent was bit by a pit bull. They were able to seize 40 car key fobs, a glass-punch device, and a police radio.
Authorities claim that along with stolen cell phones and entire ATM machines, the gang swiped around $10 million in goods, so taking them down was a huge accomplishment. Amazingly, it seems only 4 men pulled off all these heists. All of them are in their 20s and are now facing several serious charges, so the legal battle will begin soon.
In total, federal authorities believe the 4 men pulled off over 130 individual burglaries. Getting these guys off the street will hopefully make a big impact on crime in the region, especially car theft.
Source: Hartford Courant
