By Jeff Lipton
Fourth Squad detectives arrested Jose Echevaria, 38, of Elmhurst, Queens, at Columbus Circle in Manhattan at 8:45 a.m. and charged him in at least two incidents, authorities said. Police are investigating whether they can link him to any of eight other cases that have been reported since the beginning of the year. They are also seeking at least three more suspects as the investigation continues.
Echevaria is being charged in connection with incidents in which the tires of victims' cars were slashed and the flats were then pointed out to them. As the victims were distracted by inspecting the damage, a suspect made off with cash left inside the car, detectives said. In many of the cases, the victims were followed from banks in the Lawrence-Cedarhurst area and were seen withdrawing large sums of money, police said.
Echevaria was charged with one count of fourth-degree grand larceny for allegedly swiping the pocketbook from an 83-year-old woman whose tire was punctured in the Five Towns Shopping Center on Rockaway Turnpike in North Woodmere on Feb. 21. The victim lost about $400 in cash in that incident.
Echevaria is also accused of third-degree grand larceny for allegedly stealing the briefcase of a 55-year-old man whose car tire was flattened on Cedarhurst Avenue in Cedarhurst on Aug. 3, police said.
"We're pretty sure he is working as part of an organized group," said 4th Squad Detective Sgt. Walter Anderson. "We're expecting to make more arrests."
Anderson said that detectives have been following a pattern of at least 10 cases, including one each in January and February, two in April, one in June and five in August. In a two-day span in August, about $13,500 was stolen in three separate incidents, police said.
The arrest was the result of extensive investigative work by 4th Squad Detective James Lorenzen, according to Anderson. Members of the New York City Police Department's Organized Theft Task Force also assisted in the investigation.
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