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Car Thief Who Escaped LaGuardia Rental Lot Tracked With GPS: Port Authority

By Katie Honan | March 28, 2016 5:03pm
 The man told workers he was just released from Rikers Island, according to police.
The man told workers he was just released from Rikers Island, according to police.
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Port Authority Police

EAST ELMHURST — A man claiming to have just been released from Rikers Island stole a car from a rental lot at LaGuardia Airport on Sunday and was later tracked down using the vehicle's GPS, officials said.

Jose Cabreja, 36, allegedly drove a stolen Blue Mini Cooper convertible into the Hertz Rental Car lot at LaGuardia Airport at 5 a.m. on March 27, according to the Port Authority.

It's not clear where the car was stolen from, but he allegedly told staff he had just just been released from Rikers Island jail and wanted to rent another car, officials said.

Staff refused to rent him a car, so Cabreja hopped into an Infiniti QX80 that had just been returned and drove off using the keys left inside, police said.

He managed to escape in the vehicle despite having all four tires deflated by security spikes at Hertz, according to officials.

But Cabreja didn't make it far before he was nabbed, Port Authority police said.

Police tracked him blocks away, from 83rd St. and Astoria Boulevard, 10:30 a.m. using GPS tracking on the car.

Police identified him using photos taken at the rental car location and arrested him at 83rd St. and 23rd Ave. following a brief chase, officials said.

Last month the 115th Precinct saw an increase in car thefts over this time last year, with a third of the stolen cars taken from local rental car sites, according to Deputy Inspector Brian Hennessy.

"We are up five, nine versus four, and three of them are from rental agencies [in connection to suspects] using fraudulent credit cards," he said at this month's precinct meeting. 

Cabreja was awaiting arraignment Monday, according to the Queens DA.