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Office of the District Attorney P. David Soares Major Auto Theft Ring Busted Watkins and Camacho Face Up To 30 For Large Scale Motor Theft ALBANY , NY – District Attorney P. David Soares announced today that JAMES THOMAS. WATKINS, 24, of 205 2 nd Avenue, Albany, NY and ARIEL CAMACHO, 19 of 315 Clinton Avenue, Albany, NY have been indicted on 5 counts including Burglary in the 3 rd Degree, 2 counts of Grand Larceny in the 2 nd Degree, 2 counts of Criminal Possession of Stolen Property, and Conspiracy in the 4 th Degree. CAMACHO was also indicted on a 3 rd count of Grand Larceny. The indictments allege that WATKINS and CAMACHO lead a criminal conspiracy which to engage in a large scale scheme to steal cars from auto dealers and rental car agencies. Altogether the group stole in excess of 17 cars including 2 2006 H2 Hummers, 1 brand new Equinox, a Chevrolet Impala, and a 2005 Ford Explorer. The defendants then proceeded to use the cars as the fleet for their informal car rental business called Hood Rentals. The cars and trucks were rented out for $50 - $80 a day, cash, no questions asked. According to District Attorney Soares, the investigation is continuing and more indictments are possible. “Bringing these two to justice has been the result of a three month effort by the Economic Crimes and Auto Theft Unit of my Office, the Sheriff’s Office and the Colonie Police Department who were all investigating separate complaints and then realized that there was a common modus operandi. These indictments are only the start,” DA Soares said. He also remarked on the scale of the crime, “It is possible that this group stole in excess of 30 brand new vehicles for their illicit enterprise,” he added. Soares also cautioned that the owners of large fleets of vehicles need to be smarter about the way that they secure and monitor their fleets. “I am relieved to learn that one of the victims of these crimes has already taken the precaution of upgrading to a high-tech digital security and inventory management system and I would encourage other auto-dealerships and auto rental companies to take similar precautions,” DA Soares said. If convicted on all counts, WATKINS faces a maximum of 15 to 30 years and CAMACHO faces a maximum of 15 to 45 years. Both will be arraigned Wednesday, February 1, 2006 before the Honorable Thomas A. Breslin. Back to Press Releases For further information contact: Richard Arthur
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