Six individuals have been indicted in a 15-count federal indictment for stealing at least 20 vehicles in the D.C. region and Pennsylvania and transferring and selling them in the US and Ghana.
Investigators suspect the organization is related to over 100 stolen cars in the District and over 30 in Prince George’s County. Officers also investigated a potential storage facility in Decatur, Georgia, as part of the investigation.
Prosecutors claim the ring utilized electronic devices to reprogram blank key fobs, enabling them to steal newer Honda Civics, CR-Vs, Acura TLXs, and RDXs.
The vehicles were moved to storage facilities, including a garage in southeast D.C., where the conspirators allegedly replaced license plates, concealed VINs, and disabled GPS and Bluetooth devices to escape detection.
Five defendants, Jacob Hernandez, 29, of Los Angeles; Dustin Wetzel, 23, of Woodbridge, Va.; James Young, 23, of Hyattsville, Md.; Khobe David, 24, of Upper Marlboro, Md.; and Chance Clark, 25, of Waldorf, Md., are in jail.
A sixth defendant is still at large and considered a fugitive. The indictment remains sealed.
All six are charged with conspiracy to possess, sell, or transport stolen vehicles.
The Metropolitan Police Department, the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia’s Criminal Investigations Unit, and the FBI Washington Field Office are all investigating the matter, with support from Prince George’s County police.
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