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Man Broke Into Two Staten Island Car Lots and Stole Batteries, Police Say

By Nicholas Rizzi | October 22, 2014 6:11pm
Staten Island Car Battery Thief
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NYPD

STAPLETON — A man cut the fence of two Stapleton lots, swiped batteries from cars parked inside, and even passed by police officers as he dragged them across the street, police and workers said.

The man broke into Vanbro Motors, 511 Bay St., and Wave Street Auto Body, 33 Wave St., two times each between Sept. 26 to Oct. 20, police said.

At both spots, the man just cut the fence in the lots the first time and didn't take anything, police and workers at both places said.

The second time, however, the man broke into cars, cut the wires, and took batteries from inside them.

"He cut some of the wires pretty deep and they required some rewiring and new batteries," said Jimmy Lano, manager at Vanbro Motors.

During his latest break-in, between Oct. 18 and Oct. 20, the man took four batteries from cars inside Vanbro Motors' lot while they were closed and locked, Lano and police said.

On surveillance footage — which Lano shared with police — the man could be seen dragging the batteries with wires dangling as he crossed Bay Street, and he even passed a police car that didn't stop him, Lano said.

"He was dragging 20 foot booster cables, crossing the street, in the middle of the day," Lano said. "No one was very observant."

On Oct. 13, the man hit both spots on the same day, first cutting the fence of Vanbro but leaving with nothing then Wave Auto Body where he took some batteries.

Police described the suspect as between 20 to 30 years old last seen wearing a white, grey and blue ski hat, a black hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans, police said.

Lano said the footage he shared with police got a good view of the suspect.

"The cops got a good video from the guy from our security cameras," Lano said. "Hopefully they catch the guy and no further damage is done."

Anyone with information in regards to these incidents is asked to call Crime stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).