Police On Long Island Report Rash Of Auto Thefts From Driveways
ROOSEVELT, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- It has happened five times since Jan. 1 – cars being stolen from driveways in Nassau County.
As WCBS 880's Sophia Hall reported Saturday, three cars were stolen in West Hempstead, one from Carle Place, and a fifth from Roosevelt.
As of Saturday, Nassau County police Deputy Inspector Kenneth Lack said one car had been recovered, and one teen had been arrested.
"They were all running. They were warming up due to the extreme cold weather and that is just a very easy target for a car thief," Lack said.
Lack noted that if you are caught leaving your car running unattended, you can get a ticket.
"It is something that is very preventable by the public not to do that," Lack said. "It is illegal to do that. You can get a ticket from the police department."
The cars stolen included two Mercedes Benzes, one Honda, and one Toyota, along with one Ford – which was the vehicle that was recovered.
The Ford belonged to a 38-year-old woman, who was at a relative's house on Park Avenue in Roosevelt on Wednesday when she went outside to warm up her 2005 Ford. She wen t back in the house with the car running, and when she returned outside, the vehicle was gone.
The woman's pocketbook and wallet were in the car, police said.
On Thursday, the woman's husband spotted the vehicle headed east on the Hempstead Turnpike and called 911, and police pulled over the car near Key Lane in Hicksville.
The suspect – Dewayne Green, 17 – was arrested and charged with grand larceny and unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. The woman's pocketbook and wallet were recovered along the Southern State Parkway in Roosevelt.
Green was arraigned in First District Court in Hempstead on Friday.
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