Warren police bust car theft ring that targeted high performance vehicles

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"This is an organized theft ring of vehicles," said Warren Police Commissioner Bill Dwyer.

Commissioner Dwyer says the cops have been following this group for weeks.  But the big bust came Wednesday night, when they were under surveillance in Auburn Hills.

Four men, in their early 30s, including the 29-year-old ringleader, in custody.   All of them with previous criminal convictions for similar crimes.  

"These are career criminals, they were on parole for carjacking (and) other auto thefts," Dwyer said. "Once they got to Auburn Hills they went to the storage area and they took between five and eight vehicles. Dodge Rams and other vehicles, they went south on I-75 at a high rate of speed - it wasn't a pursuit, it wasn't a chase."

Warren cops arrested two suspects in Detroit and two others in Oak Park, early Thursday morning. The police also recovered three cars but these are not ordinary ones.  

"These are what they call Track Hawks, they are very high-speed 700 horse power, vehicles are valued at $100,000 a piece," Dwyer said. "Three were recovered."

The four suspects will be arraigned in the Warren District Court but they will also face another judge for parole violations. Which could send them back to prison. In fact, they could be looking at even more car theft related charges in the future.

"We know they are involved in other auto thefts," Dwyer said. "And we feel very confident that we have really shattered a major auto theft prank thanks to the outstanding work of the warren police in this investigation."