Four sentenced in Woodmere, Lawrence burglary ring targeting luxury cars
Newark crew stole BMWs, Mercedes and an Audi from Five Towns homes during overnight break-ins before a crash ended their run in Lake Success.
Four men from Newark, New Jersey, have been sentenced to prison for a string of burglaries that hit homes in Woodmere, Lawrence, Hewlett Harbor and Franklin Square, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly announced, according to the Nassau Herald. Jawaun Whitted, 24, Fazon Farrington, 21, Furquan Ahmad, 22, and Raquil Hayes, 23, admitted to a series of attempted and completed burglaries between December 2023 and January 2024, focused on stealing luxury vehicles by entering homes overnight and taking key fobs. Ahmad was sentenced June 2 to 10 years after pleading guilty to five counts of second-degree burglary and criminal possession of a weapon. Whitted and Farrington each got 10 years earlier, and Hayes received 3 1/2 years.
Prosecutors said the crew attempted more than a dozen burglaries across Nassau County. On Dec. 23, 2023, Ahmad, Whitted and Farrington broke into a Magnolia Drive home in Franklin Square through a window and took a 2024 BMW worth about $130,000 and a 2019 Mercedes-Benz worth about $88,000. On Jan. 4, 2024, Ahmad and Whitted entered a Lawrence home on Ocean Avenue through an open rear sliding door, took keys to a BMW X7 worth more than $50,000, personal property and a Range Rover parked outside. On Jan. 8, 2024, the same three men got into a Park Lane home in Woodmere through a kitchen window and took a BMW 760 worth about $130,000 after finding its fob inside. Prosecutors traced the pattern back to July 2023, when Whitted and Ahmad broke into a Hewlett Harbor home, were confronted by the homeowners and fled in a stolen Audi RS6 worth roughly $170,000.
The spree ended Jan. 13, 2024, after an attempted burglary in Lake Success, when the four fled in a BMW sedan and crashed into a Lake Success police vehicle before trying to escape on foot. Police recovered a loaded Glock handgun fitted with an illegal switch that converts it to fully automatic fire. Donnelly said the defendants traveled between New York and New Jersey searching for luxury cars and vehicle keys, and urged residents to lock doors and windows, avoid leaving keys in cars, and consider cameras or alarm systems. The case was investigated by Lake Success police and the Nassau County police Burglary Pattern Squad.