Police Bust Multi-Million Dollar Luxury Car Theft Ring

The ring allegedly focused on stealing luxury Lexus and Toyota vehicles.

Last night and early this morning the NYPD's Auto Crime unit, along with the Attorney General's office, went about dismantling a sophisticated and large car theft and resale ring which they say stole hundreds of cars worth more than $100 million dollars. The bust, which pulled in 18 alleged crooks, came after a nine-month investigation based on a tip.

According to the indictment, the crew used a "highly developed chain of command" which included an alleged boss (William Cruz, 28), “steal men” who would—you guessed it—steal the cars, individuals who produced illegal paperwork and two Toyota dealership employees who provided critical information to manufacture counterfeit keys.

The scheme, as described by the police, was elegant in its simplicity. Cruz would take orders for luxury cars, sometimes from international buyers, and direct his steal men to locate the Toyota and Lexus cars around Brooklyn and Queens. When they spotted them the "steal men" would copy the car's Vehicle Information Numbers (VINs) which were then used to manufacture counterfeit keys. The steal men, on their return trips, would simply drive away with the hot cars. After that they'd strip the vehicles of their identification, make some new documentation (somehow cans of Red Bull were involved) and resell them. According to Police Commissioner Ray Kelly the gang would also sometimes use “a smart key device that plugs into the steering wheel’s compartment," which also allowed the the thieves "to start the engine and drive away."

Authorities have so far gotten back 42 of at least 291 cars stolen, including Range Rovers and Lexus SUVs, valued at $1.6 million bucks. Reportedly the gang was reselling them for as low as $3,000 to $5,000. Sixteen of the 18 people arrested in the case will be charged with enterprise corruption, a class B felony that carries mandatory prison time.

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By Garth Johnston in News on May 25, 2011 5:11 PM

Comments [rss]

drew_o

"Police Bust Multi-Million Dollar Luxury Bicycle Theft Ring"

Why no! Once again, the single most destructive device ever introduced to the planet struts it stuff - this time as a source of crime!

billyjack55

Dude. Please. The "most destructive device ever introduced" ? Without cars or trucks, you wouldnt even HAVE that dopey bike you pedal around on. Would you please just try to keep it even a little real? Gosh.

xXxMExXx

Drew appears to be oblivious to all the advancements in life on this planet due to motorized transportation... Why not pledge to no longer use any product or service that uses a car/truck?

luke_1

Atomic weapons? Automatic firearms? Chemical warfare?

Oh... cars. I get it.

drew_o

Automobiles kill 40,000 Americans each year - a number that has been relatively consistent over many, many years now. This is the number of dead ONLY in the US (not to mention the hundreds of thousands of Americans maimed and permanently injured each year by autos).

Do the math - there would have to be many consecutive years of Hiroshimas and Nagasaki's to equal this amount of dead. Again - the 40,000 dead each year is in the US alone.

Aside from all the dead people, you can throw in global warming, our country's continued forays into Middle East madness because of oil, and the obesity epidemic that has swept our land -- all directly attributable to the automobile. And that's just the tip of the melting iceberg!

Yes, goods and services still need to be delivered to the people. There is a need for service trucks - although trains are more efficient. Perhaps a clarification is in order: the personal automobile is the single greatest destructive force ever introduced to the planet.

But go ahead and swallow Madison Avenue's ads that "your car is your freedom" - that's what Big Oil and Detroit want.

Oh, btw, a Marine was killed by an automobile this morning on the West Side. Just one of 40,000 DEAD EACH YEAR. But who's counting? Certainly not most Americans.