Bordentown
– New
Jersey State Police Superintendent
Colonel Rick Fuentes today announced that
criminal charges have been lodged against
20 individuals in the wake of a sweeping,
14-month investigation dubbed “Operation
Ninja” that targeted a sophisticated
tri-county motorcycle theft ring. The
thefts took place mostly in Burlington,
Mercer and Camden counties over the past
two years. The ring, operating out of
the Willingboro area, may be responsible
for the theft of a couple hundred late-model,
racing-style motorcycles. The accused
men allegedly stamped new identification
numbers on the bikes and created fraudulent
documents in an attempt to hide the thefts.
According
to Colonel Fuentes, detectives assigned
to the State Police Auto Unit, with assistance
from representatives of the New Jersey
Division of Criminal Justice, Mercer County
Prosecutor’s Office, F.B.I., Pennsauken
and Willingboro Police Departments and
many other agencies, conducted the investigation.
In early morning raids, 19 individuals
were arrested. So far, 40 stolen motorcycles
and two cars were recovered with an estimated
value of more than $500,000.
“Today’s
arrests, resulted from a concerted and
comprehensive investigation by law enforcement
of this motorcycle theft ring,”
said Attorney General Peter C. Harvey.
“Our department is taking direct
aim at stolen vehicle schemes and will
investigate, arrest and prosecute anyone
involved in such activity, particularly
when it endangers innocent lives.”
The New Jersey State Police Auto Unit
began the investigation in February 2004,
when detectives uncovered a string of
motorcycle and ATV thefts. The thefts
affected numerous towns in southern New
Jersey, but appeared centered in the Willingboro
area. In the spring of 2004, the F.B.I.
and Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office
initiated a parallel “sting operation”
into auto and motorcycle thefts in the
Trenton area. A coordinated investigation
continued for a short time with the federal
probe ending in the early summer of 2004.
The State Police investigation continued
and revealed an extensive criminal network
committing thefts of racing-style motorcycles
and ATV’s in several counties. The
investigation eventually stretched into
the states of Delaware, Virginia, New
York, California and Georgia where several
of the stolen motorcycles were sold.
“The
Division of Criminal Justice and the Office
of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor assisted
the State Police investigation through
the preparation of arrest warrants and
by providing information regarding potential
insurance fraud,” said Division
of Criminal Justice Director Vaughn L.
McKoy. “While the theft and fraud
schemes alleged in the arrest warrants
impact the sale of motorcycles, the second
and hidden crime, is that of insurance
fraud. The Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
will move to determine the amount of insurance
fraud and will submit the appropriate
information to the State Grand Jury.”
As
a result of the New Jersey investigation,
detectives have determined that at least
an additional 12 stolen motorcycles were
transported out-of-state and efforts are
underway to recover those and other stolen
vehicles. State Police detectives and
the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB)
are coordinating efforts to recover stolen
motorcycles in the states of Pennsylvania,
New York, Virginia, Delaware, Georgia
and California.
“We
not only dismantled a criminal enterprise
today, we have also eliminated a public
safety concern,” said Major Gordon
Coleman, Commander of the State Police
Investigations Section. “In addition
to motorcycle thefts, this group put the
public in danger through their reckless
riding on highways and through neighborhoods.”
Additionally,
investigators recovered two stolen vehicles,
a 2004 BMW X5 SUV, a 2005 Chrysler Cross-Fire
and a .380 caliber handgun. The estimated
value of the two recovered vehicles is
$100,000.
Investigators are continuing to determine
if purchasers of the stolen motorcycles
were aware that they had been stolen.
-
Torray
Murphy 29 Willingboro, NJ 3rd Degree
Rec Stolen Property
-
Kyle Bunn 27 Willingboro, NJ 3rd Degree
Rec Stolen Property
-
Ronald
R. Crosland 27 Willingboro, NJ 3rd Degree
Rec Stolen Property
-
John
E. White 21 Willingboro, NJ 3rd Degree
Rec Stolen Property
-
Gregory
C. Haygood 23 Willingboro, NJ 3rd Degree
Rec Stolen Property
-
Jamar
L. Doggett 25 Willingboro, NJ 3rd Degree
Rec Stolen Property
-
Jaesen
R. Hensley 23 Browns Mill, NJ 3rd Degree
Rec Stolen Property
-
Kevi
C. Williamson 29 Burlington, NJ 3rd
Degree Rec Stolen Property
-
3rd Degree
Rec Stolen Property
-
Quentin
O. Durden 27 Willingboro, NJ 3rd Degree
Rec Stolen Property
-
Aaron
K. Auten 30 Burlington City, NJ 3rd
Degree Rec Stolen Property
-
Anthony
B. Angelone 27 Willingboro, NJ 3rd Degree
Rec Stolen Property
-
Cory
J. Carthan 31 Trenton, NJ 3rd Degree
Rec Stolen Property
-
Floyd
B. Robertson 33 Willingboro, NJ 3rd
Degree Rec Stolen Property
-
Rodney
J. West 31 Trenton, NJ 3rd Degree Rec
Stolen Property
-
Johnnie
E. Kennedy 24 Trenton, NJ 3rd Degree
Rec Stolen Property
-
Janine
C. Barnes 21 Edgewater Park, NJ Conspiracy/3rd
Degree Rec Stolen Property
-
Anton
S. Hall 26 Willingboro, NJ 3rd Degree
Rec Stolen Property/Poss of Veh w/altered
VIN