A 2013 Honda Accord which was only picked up at the dealership only hours before and a 2012 Nissan Murano parked directly across the street were targeted by thieves who made off with 8 rims and tires from both cars on 85th Street in Howard Beach.
Rim and wheel thieves returned to Howard Beach on Tuesday night, striking three vehicles within a 7-block radius—two of them directly across the street from one another. According to police sources, these three incidents bring the total, since June 17, to eight vehicles throughout Howard Beach that have been struck in a return wave of grand larcenies plaguing the precinct for many months.
“We were doing so well there for a while,” Deputy Inspector Thomas Pascale told The Forum. Pascale has gone on the record many times before that he takes these types of crimes ‘personally’ and puts a vast amount of his resources into catching the crooks that continually return for their vehicular targets. “The fact that the storm brought so many new vehicles to this neighborhood is just another unfortunate burden that these people have had to bear,” the commanding officer of the 106th precinct lamented.
The exact time of the occurrences has not yet been determined. It is only known that the window for two cars on 85th Street off 159th Avenue is between midnight and 5 a.m. and between 3 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. for a single incident that happened on 89th Street off 162nd Avenue.
Hands on hips in frustration, Deputy Inspector Thomas Pascale stands in front of a 2012 Nissan Murano and looks across the street at a 2013 Honda Accord also stripped of its tires and rims. Patricia Adams/The Forum Newsgroup
Marie Bonamasso said her son looked out the window of their family home on 89th Street at about 3 a.m. where their 2012 Nissan Maxima was parked on the driveway. “Everything was fine,” Bonamasso said, “at 3 o’clock when my son took a look outside, the car was untouched.” She has lived here for 44 years and nothing like this has ever happened. “They come right on the driveway—so brazen.” She remembered a time when things like this were not a concern and shook her head. “It’s really a shame that you can’t buy nice things anymore.”
And 7 blocks away, was Eddie C. who picked up his brand new 2013 Honda Accord no more than 8 hours before it was vandalized; now he stood outside his home with Inspector Pascale. “You know, I was so excited to get this car—look at it—it didn’t even have time to get any dirt on it.” He said he, his wife and son picked up their new family car on Tuesday evening and he last saw that everything was okay around midnight.
In the morning as he was getting ready for work, Eddie looked in disbelief as he opened his front door to see a cinder block between the front and rear passenger doors. “I saw the tires missing and I thought–no way—this is a dream.” But as he made his way down the front walk and into the street he met with yet another surprise, his neighbors 2012 Murano was also up off the ground with its wheels missing. “Honestly, that was the hardest part for me—to go across the street and tell my elderly neighbor that her car was hit too—it broke my heart.”
Now the owner’s cars will be towed to local shops or dealerships to replace tires and rims with most having to face paying deductibles of between $500 and $1,000 and arrange for a rental vehicle.
The persistence of these vehicular vandals has not only been found in the 106th precinct. Last year in March the 104, 108 and 110 precincts all reported spikes and since last year there have been outbreaks again in Middle Village, Forest Hills, Lindenwood, South Ozone Park and Howard Beach.
Earlier this year more than a dozen incidents occurred within the 106th precinct and there were several subsequent arrests in connection with some of those robberies.
Police say they will remain vigilant in deterring this crime and ask that anyone with information or video footage that may be useful call the precinct at 718-845-2211.
By Patricia Adams
