Auto theft ring stole $4.6M worth of cars on Long Island and New York City, authorities say

NYPD and New York State police investigators cracked one of the largest stolen car rings discovered in recent years, arresting 20 defendants accused of stealing dozens of vehicles on Long Island, in New York City and in other surrounding counties, officials said Thursday.

Using crude methods from breaking car windows to more sophisticated electronic devices that clone key fobs and disable tracking devices, the alleged criminal enterprise stole at least $4.6 million worth of vehicles and often sold them through social media, said Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, whose office is prosecuting the defendants, including two who live on Long Island.

The three-year-long investigation, dubbed Operation Hellcat, broke up what Katz called "prolific car theft industries in the City of New York that sprawled across United States."

"It is one of the biggest car theft rings we have seen in the last decades," Katz said.

Of the 126 cars stolen by the ring, 52 were taken in Queens, 25 in Brooklyn, 14 in Nassau County, three in Suffolk County, 10 in the Bronx, 10 in Westchester, and others in Manhattan, New Jersey and Massachusetts, investigators said.

The stolen vehicles include Hondas, BMWs, Dodges, Jeeps, Mercedes-Benzes and Land-Rovers, Katz added. So-called "brokers" who worked with the thieves were able to flip vehicles at below market prices of between $1,000 to $6,000 for each vehicle, Katz said.

NYPD commissioner Jessica Tisch said NYPD undercover officers recovered 46 vehicles worth over $1 million directly from members of the crew.

Tisch also noted the 20 defendants had a combined total of more than 178 prior arrests.

"These criminals did not fear getting arrested, in fact they simply saw it as a cost of doing business," Tisch said. "They knew the system, they knew the odds."

Tisch and Katz explained that 14 suspects were being charged in the current case with enterprise corruption, a serious offense that requires the setting of bail and can, with other offenses, lead to up to 25 years in prison.

The defendants from Long Island were identified by officials as allegedly being members of "steal crews" that actually stole the vehicles. They were identified as Greg "Fingers" Lopez Febres, 32, of Mastic Beach and Roodler A. Pierre Louis, 26, of Hempstead.

According to a spokeswoman for Katz, Febres was arraigned Wednesday with bail set at $100,000 cash or $250,000 bond; Louis is at large. Other defendants come from Queens, the Bronx, Brooklyn, as well as Tennessee.

The defendants face a host of charges ranging from enterprise corruption, conspiracy, criminal possession of stolen property, grand larceny and other offenses, officials noted.

Decades ago, stolen car rings, some linked to organized crime, were the scourge of Queens. But in recent years the number of such crimes dropped precipitously, although in April the number rose 5% compared to the same month in 2024, data showed.

By Anthony M. DeStefano

tony.destefano@newsday.comtonynewsday

Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.