2 Suffolk County men charged with stealing $500K in tires and rims in crime ring
SUFFOLK COUNTY, Long Island (WABC) -- Two men have been charged in a crime spree Wednesday for allegedly stealing tires and rims from more than 100 cars in Suffolk County.
The 190-count indictment accuses Randy Woods, 37, and Dwayne Jones, 45, of the thefts across the county from July 2022 through October 2023.
District Attorney Ray Tierney says the men went to homeowners' driveways, apartment complexes, car dealerships, and hotel parking lots, and left cars on cinderblocks.
In many cases, they're accused of taking specific orders on which tires and rims to steal.
"Rims and tires they take, but they do catalytic converters too and that's big money too," said Paul Salgueiro, Service Manager at 112 Auto Plaza. "That's a big business too but the damage is to the vehicles because they leave them on the ground. It's not like being they're gentle. They're in a hurry."
Tierney alleges that they most often targeted Hondas, Toyotas, and Mercedes Benzes, selling the tires and rims from anywhere between $500 to $2,000 for each set.
"Tires with wheel locks were still stolen," Tierney said. "What the individuals would do is they would carry lug locks, or unlock the lug nuts on cars of various types. So they could they could use those to they sort particularly in other words, they would have the Honda lug nut unlocking case. And if they saw Honda, they would just use it. Even if they didn't have the particular lug lock, what they would do would be they would just simply break the window of the car and then get the lug case in the car and use it to take off the cars."
Suffolk police say Woods and Jones sold the rims and tires to online shoppers through social media websites like Facebook Marketplace and Instagram.
According to the indictment, recovered text messages between the two men revealed their plans to steal and sell the parts.
Tierney said their alleged acts caused about half a million dollars' worth of damage, something that won't be tolerated.
"The message here is that's not the case at least not here in Suffolk County If you engage in this activity, we will investigate you and will use every technique that we have to make sure that you're held responsible," he said.
The district attorney called it a "real quality of life crime."
"You have individuals who they go to bed, they have their car outside, they come out, the car is up on blocks with all four tires missing. We all have busy lives. They can't go, they can't take their kids to school, they can't go to work. And they're talking about thousands of dollars to try to get the car back on the road," he said.
Woods is charged with many counts of grand larceny and is alleged to have stripped 52 vehicles.
Jones is alleged to be a gang member tied to a number of street gangs in Suffolk County, according to Tierney. He is accused of damaging more than 100 vehicles and is facing charges of grand larceny, stripping autos, and conspiracy.
Woods' bond was set at $1 million, $100,000 cash bail. Jones is already in jail in New Jersey, serving a six-month sentence for stealing rims. If convicted, they could both face up to 25 years in prison.
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