Next to a display of 34 recovered handbags and a phalanx of Suffolk County police officers, including East Hampton Village Police Lieutenants Gregory Brown and Jeffrey Erikson, County District Attorney Ray Tierney told a crowd of reporters and photographers on Wednesday that an “organized retail theft ring” was behind the March 3 grab of $94,000 worth of handbags from Balenciaga, a high-end retailer in East Hampton.
He warned anyone considering a copycat caper that "if you engage in this activity, and you endanger the public, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law in Suffolk County.”
The press conference followed the arraignment in Suffolk Criminal Court of Jamal Johns, 25; Baseemah Davis, 34, Ali Harris, 28, and Wazir Rodgers, 25, all of Newark, N.J. A grand jury indicted the four earlier that morning on felony charges of grand Larceny and criminal possession of stolen property, and criminal possession of a controlled substance, a misdemeanor.
Mr. Tierney said police found “a quantity of pressed methamphetamine" in their getaway vehicle, leading to the drug charge.
“Today in court the four defendants were arraigned," he said. "Ali Harris was released. Because of the [state] bail laws, we were unable to seek bail in that case.”
County Criminal Court Judge Anthony Senft ordered Mr. Harris placed on supervised release with GPS monitoring. Mr. Johns and Mr. Davis were held on $75,000 cash bond or $150,000 bond, or $750,000 partially secured bond. The fourth defendant, Mr. Rodgers, did not show up in court and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
“Jamal Johns has three prior felony convictions,” said Mr. Tierney, enumerating them: one for burglary, one for bail-jumping, and one for grand larceny. “He’s a three-time felony offender. So, under our law, that makes him ‘persistent felony eligible,’ which, under the bail laws, we’re able to seek bail on him.”
Both Baseemah Davis and Wazir Rodgers have prior misdemeanor convictions in New York State for “similar incidents to this,” said Mr. Tierney. Both have priors in New Jersey as well. Ali Harris has no adult criminal convictions on his record and was therefore not “bail eligible,” although the D.A. took issue with that law during the arraignment when the judge mentioned the state's bail reform legislation.
“I think it’s frustrating, because it takes the discretion out of the hands of the professionals, the litigants and the judge,” Mr. Tierney said.
“In this case in particular," he continued, "in 49 out of 50 states, you’re allowed to consider 'dangerousness' when seeking bail. You’re able to do that in the federal system as well. So, in this case, where there was a clear threat to public safety as a result of fleeing the scene, countless members of the public were endangered. We can’t ask bail. That certainly is frustrating. Probably the most important factor in a bail application is the individual’s dangerousness.”
In cases such as these, he said at the press conference, stolen goods are easily sold, because the thieves “have the secondary market, and the means with which to sell them on the secondary market,” in place before the theft. Sale of the items usually occurs over the internet, he said, making it possible that someone could purchase stolen goods and never know. The perpetrators, he added, sought out expensive items which can be easily resold, at “soft targets.”
Recapitulating the incident, Mr. Tierney said that "The co-conspirators, Jamal Johns, Baseemah Davis, Wazir Rodgers, Ali Harris, and an unapprehended co-conspirator, allegedly entered the Balenciaga store in East Hampton Village. The first individual to enter was the un-apprehended female,” who asked about a pair of shoes. When the clerk went to get them, "the four co-conspirators rushed in” and seized 48 Balenciaga bags from the shelves, worth about $94,000.
A, earlier press release from the D.A.'s office noted that "an employee of a store adjacent to Balenciaga called 911 after noticing the suspicious activity."
Mr. Tierney said there were two employees in Balenciaga at the time of the robbery, but “when the individuals rushed the store, the two salespeople retreated.”
He described the high-speed chase that followed. Police officers engaged the getaway car at different points, he said, only to abort when its speed increased to over 100 miles per hour and the danger to the public became too great. When the vehicle, a black Durango with Connecticut license plates, veered off Sunrise Highway toward the Long Island Expressway in the vicinity of Wading River, “the car gets disabled” and the suspects abandoned it.
“At that point, the state trooper tries a foot pursuit to apprehend the individuals. They are assisted in that endeavor by the Suffolk County Police Department," a helicopter and a K9 unit. Thirty-four of the stolen bags, worth about $69,000, were recovered at the scene. Two others were found in the Reutershan parking lot behind Balenciaga, but the rest are still unaccounted for.
The fifth person being sought remains at large. “We have no idea who it is,” Tania Lopez, the D.A.'s director of communications, was overheard to say.
“I would specifically like to thank the East Hampton Village Police Department, the New York State police, and, as always, the Suffolk County Police Department for their timely assistance, their outstanding work, and their apprehension of four of the five co-conspirators in this case,” Mr. Tierney said.
He showed a surveillance video of the heist. From start to finish, it was only 24 seconds long.
“I can’t get inside the alleged co-conspirators' heads, and fortunately, I don’t need to," Mr. Tierney concluded. "I just need to prove what they did."
Mr. Davis and Mr. Harris are due back in criminal court on Wednesday. Mr. Rodgers is due back on Friday, March 25.