A crew of six members responsible for over 200 burglaries of car dealerships, cellular phone stores and ATM businesses located in the Lower Hudson Valley, New York City and on Long Island have been convicted. New York Attorney General Letitia James announced the convictions of Willie Baines, Josepher Cartagena, Brandon Collazo-Rivera, Justin Herrera, Douglas Noble and Alexander Santiago, all of Bronx County, today.
The six defendants were charged with various counts of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree (Class C felony), Grand Larceny in the Third Degree (Class D felony), and Burglary in the Third Degree (Class D felony). All of the defendants have pled guilty to felony charges and all of the individuals received prison sentences.
The crew of six allegedly stole cars, cellular phones, merchandise and cash valued at more than $3 million, including at least 54 vehicles. The convictions were the result of a 13-month joint investigation by the Office of the Attorney General’s (OAG) Organized Crime Task Force (OCTF), the New York City Police Department’s (NYPD) Auto Crime Unit, and 29 local and county police departments.
“The six individuals convicted and sentenced went on a crime spree that impacted businesses and residents throughout downstate New York,” said Attorney General James. “These burglars left a trail of broken glass, smashed businesses, and dangerous high-speed chases in their wake. I thank my partners in local law enforcement for their coordination and support as we took down this dangerous crew. Our communities are safer now that these six individuals have been brought to justice.”
During the 13-month investigation, the theft crew was connected to over 200 commercial burglaries in 11 downstate counties, including Nassau County, Suffolk County, Queens County, Kings County, Richmond County, Bronx County, Rockland County, Westchester County, Orange County, Putnam County, and Dutchess County, in addition to burglaries in Connecticut and New Jersey. The investigation revealed that members of the theft crew would travel to neighborhoods that contained several car dealerships and cell phone stores, often burglarizing several stores in one night.
In the automobile dealership burglaries, members of the crew would smash the large windows at the front of the building, locate boxes in the dealership that contained key fobs, and then drive vehicles they were able to start right through the broken windows. The theft crew would often wait for the police to respond to a burglary alarm, and then engage in high-speed chases from the crime scene which posed additional risks for law enforcement and the surrounding community.
Investigators from OCTF and NYPD were able to identify the six individuals charged in the case through the review of video surveillance recordings, data from cellular telephones, license plate reader data, and information provided by numerous county and local police departments. A search of the residences of two of the individuals led to the recovery of thousands of dollars in stolen cell phones and key fobs from car dealerships. Additionally, several of the defendants posted photographs on various social media outlets posing with some of the stolen vehicles, and displaying large quantities of cash. Many of the social media posts occurred just minutes after the crimes, allowing investigators to connect the stolen property seen in the posts to specific burglaries and defendants.
