Twenty individuals were indicted and variously charged in a wide-ranging scheme to steal cars in Queens, throughout New York City and its suburbs, following a three-year investigation by the Queens District Attorney’s Office, the NYPD, and the New York State Police dubbed “Operation Hellcat,” into the criminal enterprise based in Queens.
Some of the vehicles were stolen from owners’ driveways, some with the keys or key fobs inside. The stolen vehicles were often sold through advertisements on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. The defendants are charged in nine separate indictments for a total of 373 counts, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced on Thursday.
“This is one of the most prolific and organized auto theft rings we have ever uncovered in New York City,” Katz said. “With these indictments, we have dismantled a criminal enterprise that stole at least $4.6 million worth of vehicles from our streets and driveways. Our painstaking investigation employed undercover officers and court-authorized wiretaps to disrupt these determined car thieves.”
Katz identified Justin “Cupcake” Santiago, 33, of 86th Street in Ozone Park, as “more of a mentor than a ringleader” of the crew that evolved over time. He is one of 14 defendants who are charged with a top count of enterprise corruption, a class B felony, and they each face up to 25 years in prison. The defendants are also charged with the larcenies and criminal possession of 126 cars, 44 of which were purchased by undercover officers over the course of the investigation.
“Today’s indictment marks a major victory in dismantling a sophisticated car theft ring operating across New York City,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said during Thursday’s press conference at the DA’s office. “These criminals stole hundreds of vehicles, trafficking them across state lines and exploiting technology to bypass security.”
Tisch added that under Santiago’s leadership, the auto theft ring did not target high-end luxury cars but regular vehicles driven by everyday New Yorkers who relied on them to get to work, take their kids to school, and just live their lives.
“At the heart of this organization was a career thief who recruited, trained, and led a steal crew that operated with precision,” Tisch said. “This was a sophisticated criminal enterprise with defined roles and hierarchy.”
Investigators uncovered a highly coordinated enterprise with individuals who possessed specific skill sets and expertise — a theft group, social media brokers who advertised and sold cars, and black-market dealers and buyers, all of whom relied upon one another to target and steal cars. The theft crew disabled the car’s navigation system and searched for and disposed of any tracking devices so the owner could not pinpoint the vehicle’s location. At times, the defendants allegedly utilized scouts who identified high-end autos to steal. The scouts pinpointed the location of the car on a digital map and sent that information to the theft group. Members of the theft crew then went out in groups of three to five to steal the cars. Some of the stolen cars were parked for a short time on public streets, so that, if a tracking system was still operable and the police found the vehicle, it would not be traced to the theft crew. The group also obscured the publicly visible vehicle identification number, or VIN, or changed the license plates to fake or stolen tags.
Once a car was stolen, the vehicles were often sold to brokers within the organization’s network and also advertised for sale in the New York City area using social media platforms. The brokers quickly flipped the cars without altering the VINs, thus commanding below market prices, from approximately $1,000 to $6,000 per car.
Three of the defendants, including two men who live in Tennessee, were considered dealers who allegedly bought cars directly from other members of the ring to resell them. The stolen cars included 38 Acuras, 24 Hondas, 23 BMWs, 20 Dodges, and three Jeeps.
Fifty-two cars were stolen in Queens, 24 in Brooklyn, 14 in Nassau County, 10 in the Bronx, 10 in Westchester County, nine in Staten Island, three in Suffolk County, one in Manhattan, one in New Jersey, and one in Massachusetts. The undercover officers also purchased three firearms — a semi-automatic rifle and two pistols. Sixteen defendants were arrested Wednesday in New York and Tennessee. One of the defendants had also been charged early this year after police responded to a 911 call on Jan. 2, of an auto theft of a 32022 Acura TLX in progress in Queens Village. An NYPD officer spotted the speeding Acura and followed it. The defendant allegedly exited the front passenger seat, tossed a laptop bag on the ground, and began walking away before he was stopped by the officers. A search of the bag found a key reprogramming device and several generic key fobs.
“This case underscores the importance of long-term, collaborative investigations in dismantling complex criminal enterprises,” NYS Police Superintendent Steven James said at the Kew Gardens press conference. The individuals indicted operated with a level of coordination and sophistication that posed a serious threat to public safety across the tri-state area.”
Four defendants were arraigned Wednesday, and nine were arraigned Thursday before Queens Supreme Court Justice David Kirschner. Two others were expected to be arraigned Thursday. Two defendants remain at large, and three others are expected to be arraigned at a later date.
“I thank our partners at the NYPD, New York State Police, and National Insurance Crime Bureau for their professionalism and expertise during this investigation,” Katz said. Other defendants indicted from Queens include Adrian “Ben Bills” Villegas, 32, of 80th Street in Lindenwood; Enrique “Finesse” Lopez, 24, of Marvin Street in Far Rockaway; and Nyron Ramkhelawan, 25, of 219th Street in Queens Village; Ricky Jimenez, 29, of 71st Avenue in Pomonok; Brayahan Agudelo, 31, of Austin Street in Forest Hills; and Jessie Pinales, 30, of Parsons Boulevard in Pomonok.
