MARCH 2011

State Senate Passes
Klein Auto Theft Bill

Legislation sponsored by Senator Jeffrey D. Klein, (D-Bronx/ Westchester), that would crack down on auto theft in New York recently passed the State Senate with overwhelming bi-partisan support, he announced.

The measure, (S.1042/ A.1286), would make it easier for law enforcement officials to target career criminals by increasing the severity of charges for those who have committed other auto-theft related crimes in the past decade.

“Auto theft has a serious and costly impact on our quality of life and we have found that its a small number of people who are responsible for a large number of these crimes,” Senator Klein said. “My legislation gives law enforcement the tools to target and prosecute these career criminals and prevent future thefts from occurring.”

Under current law, a person charged with committing the “A” misdemeanor crime of car theft in the third-degree can have the charge increased to an “E” felony if he/she has a prior conviction for car theft in the past ten years. This enhanced charge does not apply, however, if the defendant’s prior charges are grand larceny, or other vehicle related crimes such as auto stripping or criminal possession of stolen property .

Klein’s bill closes this loop hole by adding a number of auto-theft related charges to the list of prior convictions that would cause a misdemeanor car theft charge to be bumped up to a felony. These include: grand larceny of a motor vehicle, car theft in the first degree, auto stripping, criminal possession of a stolen vehicle, and illegal possession of a vehicle identification number. An “E” felony is punishable by one to four years in prison, while an “A” misdemeanor carries only a potential sentence of one year.

The bill is pending in the Assembly.

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