THE HOMIE MIKE LOPEZ GOT CAUGHT UP BACK IN AUGUST FOR STEALING CARS, HOW MUCH TIME U THINK HE WILL GET FOR THE CARJACKINGS...READ THE STORY RIGHT HERE AND TELL ME HOW MUCH TIME HE IS GETTING......
Las Vegas Police Bust High-End Auto Theft Ring
A dozen Las Vegas men are under arrest suspected of being part of a high-end car theft ring. Two of the men were in court Tuesday morning to face the charges.
Jeffrey Caldwell and Michael Lopez made their initial appearance. They, along with Jason Alterwitz, are accused of multiple carjackings and stealing high-end cars from dealerships.
Alterwitz, whose father owns Walker Furniture, was not in court. He is out on bail.
Police believe the three men are the leaders of a major auto theft ring that's been operating in Las Vegas. Police say this group was very organized and very brazen.
They started out by just stealing cars from dealership lots but then graduated to armed carjackings. One of those happened to a salesperson at a Towbin dealership.
The arrest of these three men and about a dozen others is the kind of case that comes around once in a "blue moon" for Metro investigators like Lieutenant Robert Duvall.
Lt. Duvall said, "It's kind of the reason most cops get into police work and it was very fun, very exciting to do."
What started off as an area auto theft sting operation ended in Lt. Duvall and his team discovering the motherload of auto theft rings.
"We identified some people. We kept on them, we kept watching, we kept seeing what they were doing. It appeared at first it was just a stolen car ring where they were stealing cars just off of car lots then it appeared that they were escalating into carjackings," Lt. Duvall continued.
One of those carjackings may have involved Jason Alterwitz. A high-end car he was test-driving from a Towbin dealership was carjacked at gunpoint. The sales person was knocked to the ground and robbed, but Alterwitz was left untouched.
It's the kind of brazen organization Lt. Duvall says his team was up against. "It was very organized and if we took down the center, which we feel we have done, we've taken out all the fingers that go with it," he said.
Some of those fingers found their way to court Monday morning. Moments like this make Lt. Duvall most proud. "They'd still be going right now if we hadn't intervened," he added.
Over the last couple of months, Lt. Duvall and his team have received help from police departments in Dallas, Phoenix and Anaheim on how to handle auto theft here in Las Vegas.
Lt. Duvall says this latest bust is an example of how well that research is working
Metro says suspects Jason Alterwitz, Jeffrey Caldwell and Michael Lopez stole more than $1 million worth of cars.
http://www.klas-tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5253933
Las Vegas Police Bust High-End Auto Theft Ring
A dozen Las Vegas men are under arrest suspected of being part of a high-end car theft ring. Two of the men were in court Tuesday morning to face the charges.
Jeffrey Caldwell and Michael Lopez made their initial appearance. They, along with Jason Alterwitz, are accused of multiple carjackings and stealing high-end cars from dealerships.
Alterwitz, whose father owns Walker Furniture, was not in court. He is out on bail.
Police believe the three men are the leaders of a major auto theft ring that's been operating in Las Vegas. Police say this group was very organized and very brazen.
They started out by just stealing cars from dealership lots but then graduated to armed carjackings. One of those happened to a salesperson at a Towbin dealership.
The arrest of these three men and about a dozen others is the kind of case that comes around once in a "blue moon" for Metro investigators like Lieutenant Robert Duvall.
Lt. Duvall said, "It's kind of the reason most cops get into police work and it was very fun, very exciting to do."
What started off as an area auto theft sting operation ended in Lt. Duvall and his team discovering the motherload of auto theft rings.
"We identified some people. We kept on them, we kept watching, we kept seeing what they were doing. It appeared at first it was just a stolen car ring where they were stealing cars just off of car lots then it appeared that they were escalating into carjackings," Lt. Duvall continued.
One of those carjackings may have involved Jason Alterwitz. A high-end car he was test-driving from a Towbin dealership was carjacked at gunpoint. The sales person was knocked to the ground and robbed, but Alterwitz was left untouched.
It's the kind of brazen organization Lt. Duvall says his team was up against. "It was very organized and if we took down the center, which we feel we have done, we've taken out all the fingers that go with it," he said.
Some of those fingers found their way to court Monday morning. Moments like this make Lt. Duvall most proud. "They'd still be going right now if we hadn't intervened," he added.
Over the last couple of months, Lt. Duvall and his team have received help from police departments in Dallas, Phoenix and Anaheim on how to handle auto theft here in Las Vegas.
Lt. Duvall says this latest bust is an example of how well that research is working
Metro says suspects Jason Alterwitz, Jeffrey Caldwell and Michael Lopez stole more than $1 million worth of cars.
http://www.klas-tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5253933
