Malverne Cops Arrest 'Car Thieves,' Charge Two Teens with Grand Larceny

arrested two teens from Lakeview Wednesday night for allegedly stealing electronics from unlocked cars parked in the village.  

Just before the snowstorm started around 8p.m. on Jan. 26, an off-duty New York City police officer living on Wright Avenue observed the two young men - James Wells-Jones, 16, and Marquise Burroughs, 19 - eyeing a parked car near his home.

"[They] were acting suspiciously...looking in a vehicle," Malverne Police Chief John Aresta said. 

According to Aresta, the vigilant resident called the Malverne Police soon after and Officers Robert Donovan and Robert Lang responded immediately. They received a description of the two subjects while en route and stopped Wells-Jones and Burroughs a few blocks away on Linmouth Road.

An investigation revealed that the subjects were in possession of a laptop and an iPod that had been swiped from an unlocked car that had been parked on Wright Avenue. The officers arrested them both in cooperation with the Nassau County Fifth Precinct. They were held at the Nassau County Police Headquarters and were expected to be arraigned Thursday at First District Court in Hempstead. They are being charged with one count each of fourth degree Grand Larceny.

At this time, it's not clear if Wells-Jones and Burroughs are responsible for the that occurred in Malverne in early December, when perps made off with a portable GPS system, an expensive piece of jewelry, an iPod and various Christmas gifts that residents had left in their unlocked cars.

However, Aresta did say that during interviews with the two subjects in custody, "they did admit to doing other crimes in Malverne."

Aresta said they will be reviewing these older cases with the hopes of closing them.

It was a "spectacular job" all around, Aresta said. "It was great work by the neighbors who called the police department and a great job by the officers who responded."

The crimes have been a reminder to residents to secure their vehicles and their valuables at all times. As Aresta has said, "If you take away the opportunity, then the crime goes away."