A group of Maserati-driving thieves led police on a wild, predawn chase through Long Island after they were caught swiping catalytic converters – leaving one officer with a broken ankle, prosecutors said Wednesday.
The four Bronx men allegedly drove about 40 miles to Lindenhurst in their luxury 2021 car to steal a series of catalytic converters from Toyota Priuses and other vehicles, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said.
The well-oiled each carried out specific jobs in the thefts – like raising the car off the ground with a pump jack or using a power saw to cut off the converter overnight into March 7, according to prosecutors.
Another allegedly acted as the lookout.
But around 4:30 a.m. that morning, a Suffolk County police car tried to pull over the suspicious group, only for them to accelerate the Maserati Levante and flee, the district attorney’s office said.
The crew even hit more than 90 mph during the high-speed chase on the Southern State Parkway before a second patrol car deployed stop sticks to flatten the Maserati’s tires, prosecutors said.
The alleged thieves then fled on foot — and a Suffolk officer who chased after them fell and broke his ankle, which required emergency surgery, prosecutors said.
Two suspects, Henry Cruz, 25, and Luis Acosta, 24, were arrested that morning.
The other two alleged thieves, Jeorge Santana Sanchez, 34, and Madinson Silverio Ventura, 27, were captured in a Bronx hotel on March 19.
The popular hybrid car is typically targeted for its catalytic converters because they contain expensive metals that fetch a pretty penny on the black market.
“The defendants, who are not from Suffolk County, are accused of targeting our community through a string of catalytic converter thefts and then escalating the situation by fleeing from law enforcement, resulting in a serious injury to a police officer,” Suffolk District Attorney Raymond Tierney said in a statement.
“Thank you to the SCPD patrol officers who interrupted this crew plaguing Lindenhurst and the detectives who tracked down the two who initially got away.”
Each defendant faces charges of assault on a police officer, first-degree auto stripping, four counts of criminal mischief and criminal possession of stolen property. Each count is a felony.
The suspects were all ordered held on either $500,000 or $250,000 cash bail during Wednesday’s arraignment.
The four men could get 15 years in prison if found guilty on the top count.