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Eight cars were stolen from the Ledge Road dealership’s lot in August 2012, police said. Investigators connected the thefts to a group of 18 people accused of similar thefts in New York and New Jersey as well as Connecticut, police said. Police believe the group is involved with the theft of 48 cars worth more than $2.4 million, according to police reports.
The investigation found that the criminal group had members dedicated to specific tasks, said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown in a press release. Some stole cars from private residences and commercial lots, others forged documents such as titles and license plates to conceal the cars’ sources, and others resold the vehicles on the black market, Brown said.
“The defendants charged in this case, dubbed ‘Operation Title Wave,’ brazenly shopped for high-end luxury vehicles as orders from their criminal cohorts were placed– plucking the automobiles right out of dealerships,” Brown said in a press release. “The takedown of this major criminal enterprise is yet another example of the partnership that exists between state and local law enforcement and regulatory agencies.”
Brown announced Thursday that the suspects had been taken into custody by the New York Police Department. The 18 suspects face charges, including enterprise corruption, grand larceny, possession of stolen property and forgery.
Fourteen of the men were identified as New York City residents, with another hailing from New Jersey and three more without a known address, police said. Seven of the eight cars stolen from BMW of Darien were recovered in Queens, Darien Police said Thursday.
Investigators have recovered evidence from the cars to send to the Connecticut State Crime Lab for testing, which may lead to charges in Connecticut for some of the suspects, Darien police said.
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