Suffolk DA: 5 'rim reapers' indicted in crime ring

They called themselves "the rim reapers," Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota said.

Five men who sold expensive tires and wheel rims through the Internet illegally procured their inventory by stripping vehicles parked in driveways and auto dealerships, Spota said Thursday.

If a customer wanted wheels for a Mercedes, "boom, they'd hit a Mercedes," Spota said at a Hauppauge news conference. He called the group "one of the largest rings that deal with stolen wheel rims" in Suffolk.

A Suffolk grand jury indicted the crew on multiple counts of grand larceny and other charges for allegedly stealing more than $250,000 worth of auto parts. All five men pleaded not guilty Thursday in Suffolk County Court in Riverhead.

The alleged ringleader, Darren Scales, 24, of Mastic, was also charged with second-degree assault in a Jan. 14 incident in which officials said a police officer was injured after Scales fled when the officer stopped his vehicle.

Scales' attorney, Michael Diamond of Central Islip, called the charges "questionable at best."

Also charged were Steven Clarke, 25, of Holbrook; Hasheem McLaurin, 28, of Amityville; Lahsheem Stewart, 19, of Selden; and Kelvin Mitchell, 24, of Centereach.

Prosecutors said the ring targeted vehicles such as Cadillac Escalades and Nissan Maximas. They stripped cars in driveways, leaving the vehicles propped up on concrete blocks or jacks, or at auto dealerships, Assistant District Attorney Shiry Gaash said outside court Thursday.

In some cases, the men stripped cars at a dealer, then stole a van from a nearby home, removed the back seats and used the van to transport stolen goods, Gaash said.

"I think they were fairly sophisticated," she said.

The crew, which used other cars at dealerships as battering rams to get through gates, could strip a car in five minutes, Spota said.

Six Suffolk dealerships were hit, and the crew twice jacked the same 2009 Maxima at a Ronkonkoma home, he said.

Stolen goods were stashed in a storage unit rented by Clarke or Stewart's garage, Gaash said.

The ring, which on eBay operated under the handle TopLevelAuto, sold wheels at deep discounts: Rims and tires for a 2009 Maxima, which Gaash said normally sell for $5,000 for a set of four, were sold on eBay last November for $664. Customers on eBay posted messages praising the crew for its "fast delivery" and "great customer service."