Crime Still Doesnt Pay For Car Thief

A man employed as a movie usher has been charged in the theft of a 1968 Mercury Cougar owned by a retired New York Police Department detective that the detective had reported stolen 20 years ago.
"The defendant may have thought that he had gotten away with a perfect crime but he was mistaken and perhaps now he realizes that crime does not pay and that the law has very, very long arms," said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
DA Brown identified the defendant as Scott Kenny, 46, of 166th Street in Flushing. Kenny has been charged with criminal possession of stolen property in the third degree and faces up to seven years in prison if convicted.
According to the charges, on November 19, former NYPD Sergeant Michael Eaton met with defendant Kenny at Kennys residence in Flushing to discuss purchase of a Cougar, valued today at up to $3,800, that had been advertised for sale in Newsday. Sergeant Eaton took digital photographs of the Cougar and its vehicle identification number and e-mailed the photographs and other information to former NYPD Detective Thomas Jacobellis, a classic car enthusiast who now lives in Florida. Detective Jacobellis informed Sergeant Eaton that the photographs and VIN number matched those of his vehicle that he had reported stolen from the driveway of his residence in the Bronx in 1983.
According to the District Attorney, the information about the stolen car was forwarded to Detective Steven Thau of the NYPDs Auto Crime Division who compared the VIN in the digital photo to the VIN in the 1983 stolen car roster and found that they were identical. Detectives executed a search warrant on November 26, drafted by the District Attorneys Rackets and Organized Crime Bureau, recovered the vehicle and arrested the defendant.
The defendant was arraigned and released in his own recognizance. A return date was set for January 15, 2004.