Teen arrested in W.H. thefts of warming cars

A Uniondale teenager was arrested last Saturday for stealing three cars that were left running in West Hempstead on the morning of Jan. 3.

Jordan J. Jackson, 16, went on a crime spree between 5:15 and 6:44 a.m. last Thursday, according to Nassau County police, when three West Hempstead residents discovered that their cars were gone after they left them warming up that morning.

Officials said that a 64-year-old man who lives on Juliette Road went outside to start his 2000 Toyota, then left it running as he headed back inside. When he returned, the vehicle was gone.

At about 6:32 a.m., police said, a 36-year-old woman who lives on Glen Road did the same thing with her 2011 Honda, with the same startling result.

A 53-year-old woman left her 2005 Mercedes Benz warming up in the garage of her Woodfield Road home, with the garage door open. When she went to leave for work, the vehicle was gone.

Nassau County police said that Hempstead village officers arrested Jackson after they caught him driving the Toyota at 11 a.m. the following day.

After an investigation, Nassau police also found the Mercedes and another car that had been stolen from Hempstead, but officials said they did not find the Honda.

Jackson was charged, as an adult, with second-degree burglary, three counts of third-degree grand larceny, criminal possession of a stolen vehicle and driving without a license or insurance. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on Sunday in First District Court in Hempstead. The court set bail at $100,000 bond or $50,000 cash.