Posted on 02/10/2015 8:05:17 PM PST by dennisw
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — A highly-charged crime spree of sorts has erupted in Queens, and the ill-gotten goods being taken have been some of the most unusual in recent memory.
As CBS2’s Scott Rapoport reported, it amounts to the latest wrinkle in smash and grab car thefts. Police said thieves are stealing 50-pound hybrid car batteries of all things — right from under the trunks.
“I never heard of it. It’s odd,” one resident said.
The NYPD said 14 incidents have been reported citywide since November of last year. Twelve of them happened in the 108th Police Precinct, which includes Long Island City, Sunnyside and Woodside in Queens.
In each of those cases, the cars were Toyota Camrys. The overwhelming majority, police said, were yellow cabs.
Debra Markell Kleinert is the district manager for Queens Community Board 2.
“They’re taking them out of the cars, and they’re selling them on the open market,” she said. “And people are coming out and finding their batteries missing.”
Willie Padilla is shop foreman at the Cityworld repair shop in the Baychester section of the Bronx. He explained how the hybrid battery helps run the car.
“What the hybrid battery does – it actually gets the car rolling, and it can roll up to about 20 miles an hour on electric power alone,” he said.
But that is not why they are in demand.
“They are worth 3,400 bucks,” Padilla said. “They’re very expensive.”
(Excerpt) Read more at newyork.cbslocal.com ...
I see both positives and negatives to this sort of crime.
It isn’t easy being “Green”!
shocking, I tell ya. Is there no end to these crimes....
Would have expected a report like this to come out of DC.
There are many parts in any car that cost just as much, if not more. A coworker complained once that he was charged more than $1K for a plastic bumper for his import. Besides, the $3,400 is for the new battery under warranty. How much would anyone pay for a used battery, with unknown provenance? How many owners of hybrids are so poor that they have to buy parts from vendors in a dark alley?
Somewhere in Queens an evil genius is build a giant battery powered Mobile Suit Gundam!
See a profit center, a crime will follow. The criminals finally learned of this one. Ha Ha.
A 50 pound battery worth $3400??
This hybrid Camry supposedly gets 43 mpg city, 39 highway. Our SUV gets 25 in the city, 33 highway.
That’s OK, we’ll keep the SUV and be safe and comfortable.
Your tax dollars at work.
Without Federal mandates and subsidies those batteries would not exist and so could not be stolen.
So in a roundabout way your Federal government is subsidizing crime.
That’s a very polarizing statement.
That’s great for an SUV. If you don’t mind sharing, what’s the make and model? Thanks.
I wonder. If the batteries were dead, does that mean the perpetrators will be charged?
Depends on the current law.
Do you suppose they cell them on the black market?
That’s grounds for a theft charge.
I wonder what kind of terrorist weapon can be created with them.
$1000 to a repair shop is reasonable.
$1,000 for a hot battery would be an over-charge.
Bush’s fault!
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