13 alleged gang members arrested in stolen vehicle, fraud ring across neighborhoods on Long Island
BRENTWOOD, Long Island (WABC) -- Over a dozen alleged gang members are off the streets after an extensive investigation into a high-tech vehicle theft and credit card fraud operation.
On Tuesday, Suffolk County officials announced a 250-count indictment charging 13 defendants for allegedly taking part in an organized ring responsible for a string of 52 car break-ins over the past two years.
The suspects find high-end unlocked vehicles across Suffolk County during the overnight hours and steal the ones with key fobs inside.
"This was a sophisticated crew, for gang members anyway, with a pretty good plan, they would go out and get involved and steal mostly credit cards and use those credit cards before most people woke up and realized they were victimized," said Suffolk Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina.
The Suffolk County district attorney's office released surveillance video on Tuesday of multiple car thefts across the county. The video shows alleged gang members stealing vehicles from areas like Northport, Lindenhurst and Oakdale.
District Attorney Ray Tierney says the suspects would travel from Freeport and Hempstead in Nassau County to Suffolk County to commit a lot of the crimes.
"If you leave your car fob in the car, or if you unlock your car, the mirrors on the side of the car will not go in, they'll stay out," Tierney said.
Using the realty website Zillow, investigators say the crooks would target higher-priced home neighborhoods that were more likely to have unlocked vehicles.
"They also Google searched locations of high-end gyms or assisted living homes as well as golf courses, again looking for these cars," Tierney said.
But it wasn't just cars they were after.
"The alleged crimes didn't end with car break-ins, rather these defendants are alleged to have stolen 75 credit cards which were then used to charge over $40,000 on those stolen credit cards at Target, Walmart and Apple throughout Long Island and New York City," Tierney said.
Through search warrants, police recovered 122 driver's licenses, 20 checkbooks, 45 credit and debit cards, eight cellphones, 15 social security cards, 14 passports and 20 key fobs.
The alleged gang members showed off the stolen items on social media to gain gang status, officials said.
The thieves are accused of using the stolen credit cards to buy gift cards and high-end electronics which they sold for cash or converted gift cards to money -- which they pocketed.
Tierney stressed the importance of bail reform because he says under the current law, many of the suspects had to be released.
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