Race to Rikers: Bros Busted For Boosting Bikes, Hocking Heroin
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A Yamaha motorcycle, one of the stolen motorcycle makes allegedly sold by the defendants. Photo by Conor Luddy on Unsplash.
By Jonathan Sperling
They weren’t fast — but they might be furious.
Five men were charged Friday with criminal sale of a controlled substance and criminal possession of stolen property after being busted trying to sell stolen motorcycles, heroin and fentanyl to an undercover police officer, Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced.
“The defendants in this case are variously charged with selling highly addictive hard drugs and stolen motorcycles,” said Brown in a statement. “Fortunately, as a result of a long-term investigation by the New York City Police Department’s Auto Crime Division and my office’s Organized Crime and Rackets Bureau, these individuals are now out of business and facing lengthy terms of incarceration for their alleged crimes. This case should serve as a warning to drug dealers and anyone else who barters in stolen goods in Queens County that law enforcement is coming for you.”
The defendants — Jose Abreu, 37, of Ozone Park; David Vasquez, 29, of Harman Street in Brooklyn; Johnnie Townsend, 37, of Rogers Avenue in Brooklyn; Christopher Alverez, 29, of Harman Street in Brooklyn; and Seon Jordan, 33 of Willoughby Avenue in Brooklyn — allegedly sold stolen motorcycles worth over $39,000 along with 3,513 glassines of heroin and fentanyl.
They face up to 24 years in prison if convicted.
Vasquez allegedly arranged meetings in Ridgewood, Elmhurst and Flushing in order to sell the stolen motorcycles to an undercover NYPD detective. Vasquez and Townsend together sold six motorcycles to the detective on four separate occasions between May 7, 2018 and July 10, 2018 for a total of $6,600.
In addition, Vasquez sold four other stolen motorcycles to the detective between May 1, 2018 and Aug. 21, 2018. In each instance, none of the motorcycles were sold with titles or keys, prosecutors said.
According to court filings, each motorcycle’s ignition wires had been clipped and re-taped — a tactic used by motorcycle thieves to hotwire and start an engine without needing a key.
Vasquez and Abreu are additionally charged with selling 511 glassine envelopes containing a heroin and methamphetamine mixture on May 1, 2018, followed by 1,000 glassine envelopes containing fentanyl on July 18, 2018, to the undercover detective.
Vasquez and Alverez are also charged with selling 2,002 glassine envelopes containing a heroin and fentanyl mixture to the undercover detective for $12,000, on Aug. 22, 2018.
