By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Friday, February 22, 1991
The Record (New Jersey) | Four Star B | NEWS| Page B04
The FBI, with help from borough police, on Wednesday arrested three Long Island men who authorities believe are connected to a ring that stole heavy equipment in New York and then resold it.
John T. Sieber, 29, of Mastic Beach; Julio Santo, 24, of Selden; and Carlos Chavere, 22, of Huntington Station were confronted by three FBI agents and four Mahwah officers at the International Motor Plaza on Route 17 in Mahwah.
Special Agent Gary L. Penrith said the men arrived at the plaza about 2:30 a.m. with a stolen John Deere backhoe. They tried to flee on foot, but Santo and Chavere were apprehended. Meanwhile, Sieber ran north on Route 17, jumped a fence, and ran along a railroad line into New York before he was arrested by Ramapo, N.Y., and Suffern, N.Y., police.
Elliot Peters, an assistant U.S. attorney, said the arrests were the result of an investigation into the theft of farm-type tractors and trucks. Seven other suspects have been arrested, and some of them have pleaded guilty, he said.
Ring members scratched out vehicle identification numbers, stamped the vehicles with new numbers to make it difficult to identify them as stolen, and then sold them in New Jersey and New York State, Peters said.
The three are charged with transportation of a stolen motor vehicle, and may face other charges. Santo was released on $25,000 bail Wednesday. Sieber was held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan on $10,000 bail. Chavere was also transferred to the center and held on $25,000 bail.
Keywords: MAHWAH; THEFT; EQUIPMENT; CONSTRUCTION
ID: 17333967 | Copyright © 1991, The Record (New Jersey)
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