Talk about hot wheels.
Cops say they are combating a rash of tire and rim thefts - with dozens of reports to Nassau police since the beginning of last month - on late-model vehicles parked in South Shore communities along the Nassau-Suffolk border.
Bandits making their way primarily through Massapequa, North Massapequa and Massapequa Park have in many cases stolen all the tires from a car, authorities said.
The authorities have taken note of the brazenness of the thieves, who usually work overnight, leaving owners to wake up to find their vehicles propped up on concrete blocks.
"Look at NASCAR. They do it in eight seconds," said Det. Sgt. Lucy Graziano of the Nassau County police crimes-against-property squad, explaining that a coordinated team of thieves can remove four wheels pretty quickly.
Police say targeted cars have included Hondas, Infinitis and Nissans. The stolen wheels, which can cost $5,000 or more to replace, aren't particularly high-end or specialized.
In Suffolk, Police Det. Lt. Peter Cilentro said yesterday that his vehicle theft section said the wheel-theft problem seems to be particularly acute in southwest Suffolk, near the county border, in places like Babylon and Lindenhurst, and with vehicles made by such manufacturers as Infiniti, Mercedes and Nissan.
Detectives face a challenge zeroing in on where the stolen goods are being fenced, because very few have distinctive numbers or markings that help investigators track the true owners, Graziano said.
"They can bring them to a legitimate place and probably get decent money," she said of the thieves, although they might get only a few hundred dollars.
By contrast, replacement rims for many late-model cars can cost more than $900 each, plus $200 or so for each tire, and more than $100 for a tire-pressure monitor on each wheel, one dealership said.
A spokesman for the Insurance Information Institute said that wheel thefts would generally be covered, less a deductible, for auto insurance policyholders with comprehensive protection.
Nassau police are stepping up patrols in the affected areas, Graziano said.
Jody Calabrese, a service consultant at Infiniti of Massapequa, said the dealership has repaired the vehicles of victims of tire thefts seven or eight times since late November. He said the vehicles were mostly late-model cars.
Even the dealership hasn't been immune. On the Thanksgiving weekend, he said, "we had a set of wheels actually stolen from our lot" off an Infiniti coupe.
And on New Year's, thieves trying to steal tires at its used car dealership were scared off by a passerby but never caught.
Thieves often place paving stones behind the tires and let the air out of each, he said, "which will lower the car enough that they can take the wheel off, thus avoiding having to jack the car up," Calabrese said, showing the stone found at the dealership after the aborted New Year's heist.
The thieves' victims are not impressed.
Shelly Dougherty and her husband, Daniel, of North Massapequa woke up to an unhappy surprise early last Monday when Daniel walked out of their home to drive to the gym: All four wheels of their new 2009 Nissan Maxima were gone. Tires, rims, everything, replaced with concrete blocks, she said.
Insurance should pay most of the cost of the replacement wheels, which, in their case, will run in the thousands, she said.
Although they have another car, the theft means that husband, wife and their youngest, who is 1, must wake up early so Shelly can drive Daniel to the train station every morning.
"It's hard when you have a baby," she said.
Staff writer Andrew Strickler contributed to this story.
A thief determined to steal a set of wheels can always find a way, no matter how well the owner tries to protect the vehicle. But simple steps can make a thief's work much harder - which makes it more likely he will give up. Remember: Thieves doing their handiwork want to make as little noise, spend the least amount of time and do the smallest amount of work as possible. Some tips:
GARAGE IT. You should leave your car in a garage or parked in a well-lighted place.
GET WHEEL LOCKS. They cost about $50 for a set of four at the dealer. Each of the locks supplements a factory lug nut and can be opened only with a special key given to the owner.
"It has an odd shape in the face of it that requires a matching key in order to install or remove the lug nut," said Jody Calabrese, a service consultant at Infiniti of Massapequa in the southeast part of Nassau, which has been affected by a spate of thefts.
Without the key, a thief - no matter how good - will probably need to make a lot of noise and spend a considerable amount of time stealing your wheels.
And that would make it more likely a neighbor would hear a racket or a police officer driving by would notice something suspicious.
STASH KEY WELL. Owners need to be careful where they leave the wheel-lock key, too. "Unfortunately, the large problem is, most people leave the key in the car, which the thieves know and they'll break into the car and search for the key," Calabrese said.
- MATTHEW CHAYES
It can cost you
Replacement wheels for many new top-end cars don’t come cheap.
$900 Each rim
$200 Each tire
$100 Each tire for air-pressure monitors
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