A group of scrap yard scam artists had their con crushed last week, after it was discovered they had stolen 32 vehicles off the city’s streets, selling each to a Queens scrap yard for hundreds of dollars per car, Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said in a statement.
Jose Montenegro, 27, and Jennifer Avila, 26, of Autumn Avenue in Brooklyn, and Pedro Lopez, 20, of Jamaica Avenue in Queens, have been charged with fourth-degree grand larceny, fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, third-degree unauthorized use of a vehicle and first-degree falsifying business records.
Brown said that the defendants are accused of taking advantage of a quirk in the law that allows individuals to dispose of vehicles that are eight years or older without proof of title. The defendants mostly sold Ford Econoline vans, simply showing their driver’s license at the scrap yard, filling out a DMV form stating that they were the vehicle’s owner and leaving with cash in their pockets.
“They allegedly walk away with hundreds of dollars for each vehicle that is crushed, leaving the true vehicle owners – many of whom depended on their cars for work – without wheels,” Brown said.
According to the charges, the defendants delivered a total of 32 vehicles between April 2012 and August 2012. They were allegedly paid $600 and $700 per van. 11 of the vehicles were crushed and reduced to scrap metal, while police recovered 21 of the stolen vans before they were crushed.
The three defendants are currently awaiting arraignment in Queens Criminal Court. If convicted, they each face up to four years in prison, according to the statement.
