2 Haverstraw men arrested in thefts from cars in Stony Point

Two Haverstraw men have been arrested on charges of breaking into at least a half-dozen cars across town last week autel auto scanner, stealing wallets and whatever else was left inside the vehicles, town police said Wednesday.

Detectives believe the two men stole debit and credit cards to make purchases topping $3,000, Lt. Keith Williams said.

The men were recorded on video using the credit cards, Williams said.

Arrested were John McLaughlin, 19, of 1 Bedford Lane, Thiells, and Joshua White, 21, of 4 Van Houten St., Haverstraw. They were charged with three counts each of fourth-degree grand larceny MaxiVideo MV101 with 5.5mm Model, fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, petty larceny and fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property.

McLaughlin and White were arraigned in Stony Point Town Court and were being held in the Rockland County jail in New City with bail set at $2,500 each for future hearings or potential grand jury review.

They were arrested Friday.

Police have accused them of breaking into cars or entering unlocked vehicles between Dec. 2 and 6, Williams said.

One of the heavily targeted areas was Shaken Drive in Tomkins Cove, he said.

“Some of the cars were locked,” Williams said, “and some of the cars were left open.”

Investigators suspect that more cars were entered and the owners have not realized that or have not reported the incident to the police, Williams said.

Thefts from unlocked cars and vehicle break-ins had been rampant across the county earlier this year.

Police urge residents to lock their cars and not leave anything of value inside their vehicles TPMS service tool, or at least not in the open.

Residents have reported money, electronic equipment such as GPS devices and laptops, wallets and pocketbooks stolen.