Police nab 3 suspected of purse thefts, bank scam
TOWN OF POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. » Three suspected members of the Felony Lane Gang, a Floridabased group known to steal purses from vehicles at gyms and other businesses, were arrested after a brief foot chase, town police said Thursday.
Briante Kelvon Wood, 26, and Jennifer Renea Wright, 34, both of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Danielle M. Alfieri, 31, of Kenworth, N.J., were arrested Wednesday afternoon after police were contacted by Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union, which reported that people in a vehicle at a drive-up teller’s window had tried to take money out of the bank using stolen documents, according to the town police department.
Police said Wood was charged with the felonies of identity theft and grand larceny; Wright was charged with the felonies of criminal possession of a controlled substance, identity theft and grand larceny; and Alfieri was charged with felony of grand larceny.
A description of the vehicle was provided to police and it was spotted heading south on U.S. Route 9. The suspects tried to elude officers but the vehicle became disabled and they took off on foot, police said. The three were captured after a brief foot chase.
The Felony Lane Gang was described by town police as “a roaming band of about 100 people” who break into vehicles, grab purses left in plain sight and then use stolen banking documents to withdraw money from the victims’ bank accounts. All this is done while the alleged criminals are wearing wigs and other disguises, police said.
In this case, the documents allegedly were stolen Dec. 16 from a vehicle on Wilbur Boulevard in the city of Poughkeepsie.