NYC crew ripped off $2.2M worth of merch from Home Depot in full time Oceans 11-style heists: DA
A well-organized Queens retail crew ripped off Home Depot outlets in nine states for $2.2 million in merchandise, then sold the goods to “fences” who peddled them on the black market, authorities said.The sticky-fingered gang, taken down in a 780-count indictment, ran the scheme for 13 months, and was so well run that they held regular early morning planning meetings before the heists and kept meticulous lists of the items they wanted, the Queens District Attorney’s Office announced Thursday.“By all accounts, this was a full time job for these defendants,” Queens DA Melinda Katz told reporters.“They took lunch, they took nap breaks, they took shifts.
They picked a particular store, took a full inventory of the products.They showed up that day.
After the products were stolen, the theft crew needed to get rid of them as a way to feed the theft crews’ salaries.”The stolen goods — everything from air conditioners to hand tools — were then sold to five intermediaries who resold them on the black market to unsuspecting customers in Queens, Brooklyn or the Bronx.“They stole from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Delaware and Maryland,” Katz said.
“They stole from Home Depots from across those states. They typically parked close to the exit of the store, possibly to allow them to quickly remove their stolen merchandise into the van.”In all, 13 members of the crew were named in the indictment, including alleged ringleader Armando Diaz, 52, who ran 5:30 a.m.planning meetings nearly every day in East Elmhurst to plot out the day’s jobs.Once the plan was in place, members of the gang would drive a van to the chosen Home Depot outlet, where several would go in looking for the items while Diaz stayed in touch through their earbuds, according to the indictment.Crew member Joana Carolina “La Mona” Fermin, 38, typically remained in the van to scope out the retailer and keep an eye out f...