Car Theft

A Levittown man, stopped Oct. 31 at the wheel of a car police said was stolen five years ago from a Northeast Philadelphia street corner, was charged Friday with receiving stolen property and other violations, police said. Middletown Township police said that Anthony Hench, 27, of the first block of Plumtree Road, had been driving the 1980 white Mercury Zephyr on New Falls Road at 1:53 a.m. when Officer Daniel Deacon noticed that its temporary license plate had expired. Hench had no current license or registration, and he was driving under suspension, police said.

Two Philadelphia men who pleaded guilty to stealing a car and shoplifting in Bensalem Township were sentenced last week to four to 23 months in the Bucks County Correctional Facility. James Samuels, 18, of N. 20th St., and Donald Witherspoon, 22, of N. 23d St., were accused of stealing a 1985 Buick from the Neshaminy Mall parking lot on Jan. 21. The court record states that they drove the car to the entrance of Strawbridge & Clothier, left the engine running, entered the store and took a tray of watches, valued at $1,176.

A West Chester man faces charges in one dramatic daytime car theft and is a suspect in another, authorities said yesterday. Samuel Alvarado Jusino, 31, was arrested yesterday at his home and charged in the July 18 theft of a car whose owner left the engine running as she went to mail a letter, police said. They said Jusino is also a suspect in an April 2 car theft on the same block of Walnut Street in West Chester. In that incident, the car thief dragged the vehicle's 78-year-old owner 20 feet down the street.

Former International Boxing Federation champion Robert "Bam Bam" Hines was sentenced yesterday in Montgomery County Court to four to 23 months in prison for his role in a Lower Merion car theft in September. Hines, 28, pleaded guilty before Judge William T. Nicholas yesterday to two misdemeanor charges - unauthorized use of a car and criminal conspiracy to commit theft by receiving stolen property. Hines was also fined $500 and sentenced to three years' probation. The former junior-middleweight champion, who was on parole for a 1987 conviction involving a retail theft, could have been sentenced to up to seven years and fined $15,000.

I saw a crime the other day. It started with the sound of a breaking window. It was an early Sunday evening in Center City. I was walking down Walnut Street, near Broad, when I heard glass shatter behind me. I turned. A tall man in a baseball cap was breaking into a car, knocking away the stray bits of glass from the door on the driver's side. The man got in, disappeared under the dash for a few moments, popped up behind the wheel and then started the car, a gray four-door.

Among detectives, the "Gone in 60 Seconds" gangs of Philadelphia are notoriously recognized as the teen outlaws who stole cars with such ease that they halted a rapidly declining car theft rate. The Nicolas Cage movie Gone in Sixty Seconds was a box-office bust in 2000, but it had an unexpected impact after its release on video last summer: City teens were engrossed by the film's depiction of stealing cars as thrilling. "Anyone who thinks Hollywood doesn't influence kids or kids don't want to do what Nicolas Cage did in that movie is crazy," said Capt.

An 18-year-old and two juveniles from Camden were arrested Sunday at 1:30 a.m. in connection with the theft of a 1988 Pontiac from the 200 block of Broadway in Laurel Springs. As of yesterday, Edwin Crespo was still unable to post $6,000 bail and was being held in Camden County Jail. The juveniles, ages 14 and 15, were taken to the Camden County Juvenile Shelter and scheduled for a hearing on Monday before the county juvenile court. Police attempted to stop the Pontiac after it was seen making an illegal left turn onto the White Horse Pike.

A keen-eyed resident of the Cooper River Plaza South Apartments happened to be looking out the window of the high-rise Saturday evening when she saw a van pull into the parking lot and four teenagers get out. When the lone female in the group threw something - police believe it was a spark plug - against the window of a parked car in the lot, shattering the glass, the resident picked up the phone and called police, while keeping her eyes fixed...

A Philadelphia man was sentenced last Thursday to serve two to four years in state prison for a purse-snatching and a car theft at the Neshaminy Mall. James Joseph Ennis, 19, of the 2500 block of East Norris Street, had earlier pleaded guilty before Bucks County Court President Judge Isaac S. Garb to charges of robbery, theft and receiving stolen property. The following account is from court records. On the afternoon of June 12, 1990, a woman was walking alone toward her car in Lot Nine of the mall parking lot when someone approached her from behind, shoved her and grabbed her purse containing an estimated $100 in cash.

The founder of a Conshohocken towing company was sentenced to five years' probation for car theft and related charges yesterday in Montgomery County Court. The sentencing of James M. Bowe Sr. brings to an end more than two years of investigation by law enforcement officials of Bowe and his towing company. "It's all finished, it's behind us now," Bowe said as he left the courthouse in Norristown yesterday with his daughter at his side. Bowe could have faced as much as 16 1/2 to 33 years in prison.

STATE law-enforcement officials busted what they said was an international car-theft ring operating in the Philadelphia area. Attorney General Linda Kelly and Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Frank Noonan announced the arrests and filing of criminal charges against 26 people, including 15 from Philadelphia, on Tuesday. "This was a focused and elaborate operation aimed at primarily high-end luxury cars and SUVs, often snatched from car-dealership lots or service departments in communities around Philadelphia," Kelly said.

State law enforcement officials busted what they said was an international car theft ring operating in the greater Philadelphia area. Attorney General Linda Kelly and Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Frank Noonan announced the arrests and filing of criminal charges against 26 people, including 15 from Philadelphia on Tuesday. "This was a focused and elaborate operation aimed at primarily high-end luxury cars and SUVs, often snatched from car dealership lots or service departments in communities around Philadelphia," Kelly said.

U.S. marshals have arrested two more suspects in the theft of a Cherry Hill patrol car, authorities said Wednesday. John C. Daraio of Mount Laurel and Anthony K. Knight of Camden were charged with multiple counts of burglary, theft, and criminal mischief. They and Jessica Likaitis of Westville are accused of breaking into the Cherry Hill Best Buy early Sunday. Officers allegedly found them loading televisions into a van, but they escaped and took police on a countywide chase. Nearly cornered at one point, police said, Daraio climbed into a running police car and drove off. The car was found burning in Camden.

A 17-year-old youth performing community service Tuesday morning stole an unmarked police car and caused several accidents before being caught, police said. The teen, whose name was not released, stole the gray Ford Taurus around 10:30 a.m. while he was taking a lunch break from performing court-mandated service in the area of Front Street and Hunting Park Avenue, said Lt. Frank Vanore. A city fleet-maintenance lot is located there, and that was the site of the theft. The youth drove the Taurus west on Hunting Park and caused several accidents, resulting in moderate injuries to three people, Vanore said.

Legislation that would help auto-theft victims in Philadelphia avoid the additional burden of having to pay for their cars being towed and impounded after their vehicles are recovered by police is drawing mixed reviews. The measure by City Councilman Darrell L. Clarke would require police to call vehicle owners and give them an hour to recover their vehicles. The current policy calls for private tow trucks to remove stolen vehicles located by police. Police stay with the vehicle for 30 minutes while the owner is contacted, officials said.

Four people were indicted yesterday for their alleged roles in a multimillion-dollar theft ring that stole luxury cars from dealerships in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and shipped them to West Africa. Investigators believe members of the ring stole car keys from dealerships in Camden, Gloucester and Burlington Counties in New Jersey, as well as Philadelphia and Springfield in Pennsylvania. They would return to the dealerships and steal the cars, according to the New Jersey Attorney General's Office.

Authorities are still seeking a second man who they said robbed an armored-car guard of $700,000 Friday morning while the guard was making a delivery to a South Philadelphia check-cashing business. Police said yesterday that Jeffrey Prout, 20, of North Philadelphia, was the gunman who walked in with the guard from Dunbar Armored, placed a gun to the guard's head, and forced him to the ground while the satchel full of cash was stolen. Early Saturday, authorities arrested Harry Jackson, 24, of North Philadelphia, who they said stood lookout and then fled with Prout.

Lower Merion Township is increasing police patrols and urging residents to report any suspicious activity after two similar armed carjackings within five days. There have been no arrests and no reported injuries. The first was Wednesday at the Wyndon Apartments on the 600 block of East Lancaster Avenue in Wynnewood, the second about 11 p.m. Sunday outside a home on Cynwyd Circle in Bala Cynwyd. During both, witnesses told police that two young males - one armed with a silver-plated handgun - approached their victims, demanded keys to their vehicles, and stated, "Don't make me hurt you," according to Township Supervisors Chairman Bruce Reed.

A 6-month-old girl was found unharmed yesterday morning, less than 30 minutes after she was reported missing when the car in which she had been briefly left unattended was stolen off a West Oak Lane street. Police Cpl. James Pauley said the car, a rented 2005 Chrysler, was stolen at 9:25 a.m. from the 1600 block of West Chelten Avenue. The baby, Diamond Marie Jones, was inside the vehicle. According to detectives, Keith Jones, 56, double-parked the car outside his mother-in-law's home so he and his wife could drop off their 19-month-old daughter at the residence.

Faced with drug trafficking at hotels and motels throughout the township, the Bensalem Police Department yesterday reached out to the hospitality industry to help it curtail illicit activities. The department's Special Investigations Unit - spurred by the growing number of hotels and motels in the township and in anticipation of slots gambling coming to Bensalem - also called for help in spotting prostitution and car thefts at these places. According to township police statistics, 300 of the 650 arrests made since 2002 are related to hotels and motels in Bensalem.