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Teenage Serial Car Thief Busted Again in Park Slope Heist, DA Says

 Jerrin Smith, 18, has stolen 13 cars in less than two years, according to court records. 
Cars stolen from Park Slope Garage
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BROOKLYN — A teenage serial thief charged with stealing more than a dozen cars has been in and out of Rikers and alternative sentencing programs for the last two years but has still avoided prison time despite pleading guilty to auto theft, petit larceny and unauthorized use of a vehicle, records show.

Repeat offender Jerrin Smith, 18, who has been arrested for stealing seven cars over the past 15 months was arrested again in May for stealing six more vehicles — three from the same Park Slope garage, according to court records.

In all, Smith has boosted 13 cars since 2014, officials said. 

He could have gotten seven years in state prison, but so far his sentences have ranged from a $175 fine to a roughly nine-and-a-half month stint in jail — but none of the penalties have stopped him from returning to the fast lane, with one repeat offense happening on the same day he was released from jail, according to prosecutors.

Smith's spree began in February 2014, when he started stealing cars, mainly targeting parking garages and car rental companies in Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan, prosecutors say. Smith told detectives he brought the cars to "this guy in Canarsie who rents them out to people."

Victims of Smith's latest car robbery spree say they're surprised prosecutors haven't thrown the book at him given his repeated offenses.

"It's unbelievable," said Cyrus Zafaranloo, a real estate agent whose Jeep Cherokee was among the cars Smith is charged with stealing over Memorial Day weekend.

"If you steal one car, you make a mistake, you change your life, OK. But if you steal another car, you need to be punished a bit harder. This guy definitely needs to be punished harder.

“I think that obviously there’s something wrong with the system."

Brooklyn prosecutors said that this time Smith won't be let off so easily.

"This is the defendant’s third Brooklyn arrest and he will be fully prosecuted accordingly in light of his alleged recidivist behavior,” a spokeswoman for the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office said when asked about Smith's cases.

Two of Smith's cases are being handled by the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor because they are related to an ongoing narcotics investigation, a spokeswoman for the office said. She would not give more details.

Smith was first arrested on February 10, 2014 on the corner of 51st and Utica Avenue for driving a Toyota Yaris stolen from Hertz Rental, prosecutors said. He was 17 years old at the time, did not have a valid driver's license and was carrying marijuana in the center console of the car, according to the criminal complaint. He pleaded guilty to driving a vehicle without the owner's consent, a misdemeanor, paid a $175 fine and was released. 

He was arrested again on April 22, 2014, for stealing a 2013 Ford Escape, a 2013 Toyota Corolla and a Chevy Cruz from a Brooklyn Enterprise rental chain, according to his indictment. He told prosecutors he had taken the cars to a man in Carnasie who then rented them out. He pleaded guilty and agreed to enroll in a rehabilitation program in lieu of prison time. That case was handled by the Brooklyn District Attorneys' office.

In July 31, Smith was arrested again at the corner of Orchard and Delancey streets for driving a stolen Ford Fusion, records show. His case was handled by the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor and he was sent to Rikers and released on $5,000 bail on Aug. 15.

The same day he was released, Smith was captured on video stealing a Mercedes Zipcar with an accomplice Eric Mcnamee near Gramercy Park, according to court documents.

The next day, Mcnamee drove Smith and another accomplice, Jamal Clay, to another Zipcar location near 81st Street and East End Avenue on the Upper East Side where stole an Audi Q5 Zipcar, records show. Smith was arrested for those thefts on August 21 and the case was also handled by the office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor, records show.

He was sent back to Rikers for violating the terms of his rehab program agreement with the Brooklyn DA, a spokeswoman there said.

On December 15, Smith — who was still behind bars at Rikers — pleaded guilty to the July and August thefts, and remained behind bars until March 18, 2015, according to the city Department of Correction.

On April 8, less than a month after he was released, Smith stole a gray 2015 BMW from a parking garage located at 100 Jay street with a partner, Denus Marcellus, who was later arrested, prosecutors say.

On May 1, Smith and accomplices stole a red rented BMW from James Yap on May 1 near Clarendon road and East 43rd Street in Brooklyn. He was seen driving the stolen BMW near his apartment on Ralph Avenue in Flatlands on May 12, officials said, but he was not arrested, according to the criminal complaint. The car had been painted black and bore license plates from another car stolen on May 4, according to the criminal complaint.

Over Memorial Day weekend, Smith and three other men — who have yet to be arrested — stole Zafaranloo's Black Jeep Cherokee, a black Audi Q7 and another White Jeep Cherokee from Slope Parking located at 429 12th St., prosecutors said.

On May 26 around 1 a.m., Smith and an accomplice stole a white BMW from inside the Noble Car Park garage at 500 4th Ave. three blocks from their earlier target, according to his criminal complaint. Smith was arrested on May 28 for all the thefts that occurred since he had been released from jail in March. He was held on a $35,000 bond. 

He is due back in Manhattan Supreme Court on September 9.  

Molly Gallivan, an attorney with the Brooklyn Defenders who represents Smith for his most recent arrests, declined to comment.

Robert Fisher, who represents him on his Manhattan cases did not return calls for comment.