A car theft ring responsible for stealing or stripping more than 250 vehicles across Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx has been dismantled, officials said Thursday.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch and Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark announced a 971-count indictment charging 16 people with the theft of tires and catalytic converters worth more than $1.2 million. All in their 20s or 30s, they’re mostly from the Bronx.
Surveillance footage obtained by police shows the crooks using power tools to strip cars of their tires within minutes, before speeding off in stolen cars.
“It was like looking at the ‘F1’ movie,” Clark said of the footage. “It was about speed and stealth. They allegedly worked fast, like a race car pit crew in the dead of night.”
Today, 16 gang members were indicted for stealing cars and hundreds of vehicle parts.
These suspects went after and targeted everyday, hardworking New Yorkers for easy-to-sell auto parts.
Thanks to @NYPDPC, our detectives, and @BronxDAClark for stopping them in their tracks. pic.twitter.com/WAeEB2GAdY
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) April 30, 2026
The car thieves, who committed as many as six heists a night, nabbed 172 tires and rims and 69 catalytic converters between Aug. 2024 and June 2025, Clark said. Police recovered 11 stolen vehicles used in the thefts.
During a press event in the Bronx touting the success of the investigation, dubbed “Operation Pit Crew,” the Bronx DA praised police as she stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Tisch.
“I commend the NYPD Auto Crimes Unit and my prosecutors for putting the brakes on this crew,” Clark said.
The camaraderie expressed Thursday was a far cry from the barbs the two officials exchanged just more than a year ago, when Clark, at City Council hearing, blasted Tisch over the NYPD’s crackdown on the homeless and those accused of misdemeanor crimes.
In response, the NYPD’s top cop called out the Bronx as the “absolute best place” to swipe a car.
“Chances are good you’ll only be charged with misdemeanor possession of stolen property and then sent on your way,” Tisch said at an annual breakfast held by the Citizens Crime Commission. “Auto theft is a felony, so it needs to be charged as a felony. And when you don’t charge appropriately, you end up leading the city in stolen cars by a wide margin.”
Of the 16 individuals charged in the car thefts, nine had been arrested and arraigned as of Thursday. All but one of those were released without bail.
“The bail laws are what they are,” Clark told reporters when asked about the suspects’ release. “In the end, it’s up to the judge what happens. Most important is that they’re charged and they’re going to be held accountable.”