New York State - Division of Criminal Justice Services

scene; younger suspects would use the stolen credit cards. Physical evidencewas rarely left at the scene.- Residential Driveways (night time) – These suspects were typically teenagerswho would steal loose change and anything else that was left in primarilyunlocked cars in driveways and apartment complexes. These suspects wouldfrequently steal personal items that had no resale value, and would frequently becaught weeks after a theft, still in possession of the stolen property. Thesesuspects would steal for the thrill of it and often had no plan for getting rid of thestolen property.- Residential Garages (night time) – Two types of suspects realized that vehiclesparked in residential attached garages would frequently have high-value itemsand cash in them. Entry was usually gained through an unlocked rear or sidedoor. These suspects would frequently take items, such as golf clubs, that werein the garage and would occasionally venture into the unlocked house to stealvaluables, such as computers, that were left near the entrance door from thegarage. These suspects would also take car keys that were left in the car or nearthe entrance door, so they could steal the car and commit other crimes. Thistheft group would also steal bicycles, which were then used to get to a part oftown they wouldn’t normally be able to access. There were two suspect typesidentified: The first were males, 40 years of age or older, who had long criminalrecords and were on drug binges. These individuals preferred to work alone orwould have a fellow drug addict to drive them around. The second was wellorganized groups of teens who worked together with different combinations ofthieves each time they went out. This is the only group encountered thatfrequently had females participating, and this group was responsible for the mostthefts during 2009. This group had one individual who was responsible forselling the items on the Internet, and would then distribute the money to thethieves. This group had three members who made a living for close to 10months off “car shopping.” This suburban group was responsible for the theft ofover 300 GPS units, seven stolen cars and numerous residential burglaries andidentity thefts.The insurance frauds encountered in 2009 involved many fewer crimes thanexpected. The insurance thefts investigated by MCSO involved the destruction of ahouse by the homeowner with financial problems, fraudulent car repairs and fraudulenthealth insurance claims. The office also worked with DMV inspectors assigned to thetask force on a major ATV and motorcycle theft investigation involving VIN platealterations. Four arrests have been made in the case and the investigation is continuinginto Florida, Vermont and South Carolina. Another investigation with the DMVinspectors involved the recovery of stolen truck plows and construction equipment,including a construction trailer that was stolen two years ago and was subsequentlyregistered with DMV as homemade. The suspected trailer was never visually inspectedwhen it was registered, it is unclear at this time how many other stolen trailers havebeen registered as homemade, but was a new area of investigation in 2010.NYS DIVISION OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE SERVICES MVTIFP BOARD / ANNUAL REPORT 2009 Page 70