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A would-be car thief behind the wheel of a sedan stolen from a driving school in Queens was casing neighborhoods in Ridgewood for targets when he was spotted early Wednesday, Feb. 9, authorities said.
The suspect drove off after abandoning an attempt to steal a vehicle on Gilbert Street but was caught soon after.
It's not like he could give anyone the slip: The Toyota Corolla was marked with large lettering from the Ferrari Driving School in Queens and had a battered front New York State license plate dangling vertically from a single screw.
The Corolla "had been reported stolen out of the Bronx," Ridgewood Police Detective Capt. Forest Lyons said. "He was using it to try to steal other cars in Ridgewood."
Village and Glen Rock police teamed up to nab the thief at the Shell station on Route 17 at Franklin Turnpike. He was taken into custody and sent to the Bergen County Jail.
Boyd A. Loving took the photos and contributed to this account.
UPDATE: An accused car burglar from Queens who police said had been prowling Bergen County streets in a vehicle stolen from a driving school was released by a judge following his arrest.
Spanky Gus Davido, 25, had sped off after Ridgewood police caught him trying to break into a car on Gilbert Street on Wednesday, Feb. 9, Detective Capt. Forest Lyons said.
Although a new state law kept them from pursuing Davido, it couldn't prevent them from finding him.
They had help -- namely, the big lettering of the Ferrari Driving School of Queens on the side of the stolen sedan. A battered front license plate also hung vertically from a single screw.
Village police, assisted by their Glen Rock colleagues, took the 5-foot-4-inch, 140-pound suspect into custody at the southbound Route 17 Shell station next to Franklin Turnpike.
Davido, who had attempted to break into at least three other cars, was intoxicated, police said.
Police charged him with attempted burglary, theft, receiving stolen property, eluding and DWI and sent him to the Bergen County Jail. A Superior Court judge in Hackensack ordered him released following a hearing the very next day.
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