FOUR DEFENDANTS INDICTED FOR ALLEGEDLY STEALING ABOUT $94K WORTH OF PURSES FROM A RETAIL STORE

(SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y.) – Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that three men and one woman, all of whom are New Jersey residents, face grand larceny and criminal possession charges after they made off with thousands of dollars’ worth of purses from the luxury retailer Balenciaga.

“The alleged acts by these defendants show a blatant disregard for the law that will not be tolerated in Suffolk County. In addition to entering Suffolk County for the purpose of stealing the property of others, their acts put lives at risk when they fled the crime scene and drove recklessly, at times nearly 100 miles per hour.  I hope this case makes clear our commitment to prosecute anyone involved in organized thefts at our retail stores” said Tierney. “I want to thank the East Hampton Village Police Department, the New York State Police and the Suffolk County Police Department for taking these defendants into custody.” 

 “Thanks to quick action and coordination, Troop L Troopers and officers from the East Hampton and Suffolk County police departments tracked the suspects and took them into custody without incident, despite their reckless escape attempt,” said State Police Superintendent Kevin P. Bruen. “I commend the members of law enforcement and the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office for their efforts to ensure these bad actors will be held accountable for the crimes they allegedly committed.”

“I want to thank the New York State Police, their K-9 Unit and Investigators, the Suffolk County Police Department, including the 7th Precinct officers, their K-9 Unit and Aviation Unit, for the coordinated multi-agency response that led to the apprehension of 4 of the 5 subjects,” said East Hampton Village Police Department Lt. Gregory J. Brown. “I’d also like to thank the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office for prosecuting these individuals to the fullest extent which sends the message that these types of crimes won’t be tolerated in Suffolk County.”

A Suffolk County grand jury has charged Jamal Johns, 25, Baseemah Davis, 34, Ali Harris, 28, and Wazir Rodgers, 25, all of Newark, New Jersey, with the following crimes: Grand Larceny in the 2^nd Degree (a Class C felony), Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the 2^nd Degree (a Class C felony), and Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the 7^th Degree (a Class A misdemeanor). 

The alleged theft was captured on store surveillance video.  As the video shows, on March 3, 2022, at approximately 1:30 p.m., a female subject (who is unidentified and remains at-large) entered the luxury retail store Balenciaga, located in East Hampton, NY.  She was wearing a pink ski-type mask over her face and sunglasses.  She appeared to be on her cell phone as she walked around the store and looked at various handbags.  After a short time, she asked a store employee to check if they had a shoe in a particular size. 

As alleged in court documents, the employee attempted to retrieve the shoes for her, three males and one female, all masked, rushed into the store and hurriedly began taking luxury handbags from the shelves.  After taking several bags each, all five individuals ran out of the store.  They then got into a Dodge Durango and fled.  An employee of a store adjacent to Balenciaga called 911 after noticing the suspicious activity. 

Responding officers from the East Hampton Village Police Department (EHVPD) located the fleeing Durango and began a pursuit.  As the Durango fled the EHVPD officers at a high rate of speed, the officers notified other law enforcement agencies of the pursuit, as they had to terminate their pursuit because the Durango was leaving their jurisdiction.  Just before 2 p.m., near Exit 63 of Sunrise Highway, a New York State Trooper observed the Durango and initiated a pursuit.  The Trooper pursued the Durango as it got off of Sunrise at Exit 62 and headed north on Route 111.  The pursuit also had to be terminated due to safety concerns as the Durango was traveling at speeds in excess of 100 mph and was observed veering into on-coming traffic lanes. The trooper saw the Durango heading westbound on the LIE with smoke coming out of the rear of the vehicle. He followed the vehicle from a safe distance and observed it exit the LIE at Exit 69.  The Trooper then observed the subjects exit the Durango.  Three of them ran toward a wooded area just north of their location while two subjects remained at the vehicle. 

One of those subjects, later identified as Wazir Rodgers, allegedly retrieved handbags from the vehicle and fled.  The Trooper pursued Rodgers on foot and arrested him.  The other subject who initially remained at the vehicle and the unidentified female, fled and avoided arrest.  An ensuing search of the area led to the arrest of the other 3 defendants, as well as the recovery of 34 of the stolen handbags. 

Out of the 48 bags reported stolen, 34 were recovered at or near the scene of the defendants’ arrests and two bags were recovered by the EHVPD in the parking lot from which the Durango fled from.  There are a dozen bags still unaccounted for. 

According to representatives from the Balenciaga store, the value of the 48 stolen handbags is approximately $94,000.

In addition, at the time of arrest, a bag containing 20 blue pills and eight partial blue pills was recovered from the defendants’ vehicle and a lab test confirmed the pills were misdemeanor weight of methamphetamine.  

Suffolk County Court Judge Anthony Senft ordered Harris be placed on supervised release with GPS conditions. Johns and Davis were held on $75,000 cash bond/$150,000 bond or $750,000 partially secured bond. Rogers did not show up to the arraignment and a warrant was issued out for his arrest.

Davis and Harris are due back in Riverhead Court on March 23. Johns and Rogers are due back on March 25.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney James J. O’Rourke, IV, of the Major Crime Bureau and Assistant District Attorney Johanna Poremba of the East End Bureau.

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Criminal complaints and indictments are merely accusatory instruments.

Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. No one is above the law.

William J. Lindsay County Complex • Building 77 • 725 Veterans Memorial Highway, Hauppauge, NY 11788

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