Topic: Yowzers! 136 stolen cars, 1 suspect: "He enjoyed driving"

[Careener]

Watch your Subies and Hondas...

From the Seattle Times


By Natalie Singer

Seattle Times staff reporter

He had fun, fun, fun — until the police took his screwdriver away.

Until that happened, Seattle police say, 23-year-old Liam Moynihan had been on a one-man crime wave, stealing more cars than anyone in King County history. Armed with only a screwdriver and hammer, they say, he jimmied his way into at least 136 vehicles during a six-month joyride of epic proportions.

From last November until his arrest in May, Moynihan allegedly stole enough cars to stock a good-sized dealership, averaging one theft every 32 hours.

And he didn't discriminate. While favoring Subarus and Hondas, Moynihan allegedly heisted minivans and pickups, station wagons and SUVs, sedans and coupes. Foreign and domestic. Old and new.

And unlike many car thieves, Moynihan didn't sell the stolen cars for parts, say detectives in Seattle's Major Crimes Task Force, which investigates car thefts. Instead, they say, Moynihan simply liked to drive, often taking a stolen car out for a spin for a few hours, sometimes until the gas tank ran dry, and then stealing another.

"He'd just drive around, deciding to go to Kenmore or Tukwila one day. He needed to get from Point A to Point B — he enjoyed driving," said the undercover detective who investigated the case. Police have requested the detective not be identified because of ongoing undercover work.

Moynihan would sometimes drive 200 miles a day, they said. Police say he had no job but did have a girlfriend he liked to keep entertained, apparently by stealing cars.

"He was a nice kid, very forthright, intelligent. But he knew how to do this certain thing, and he was good at it," the detective said.

Many of the cars were either stolen or recovered in the Ballard-Crown Hill area of Seattle, near where Moynihan lives. In some cases, the cars were recovered just blocks from where they were stolen.

Moynihan was charged Thursday in King County Superior Court with 25 counts of first-degree theft. Police think he actually stole 153 vehicles during that six-month period, and many more in his lifetime.
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King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng said he planned to send a message to other car thieves by pursuing an exceptional sentence of 10 years for Moynihan. The maximum sentence range for the charges would normally be 3 ½ to 5 years. A jury would have to agree that the crime had aggravating factors to award the higher sentence.

"This is a very unusual case," Maleng said. Though not usually a violent crime, car theft is one of the issues people in Seattle are most concerned about, he said.

Even for a region like Seattle/Tacoma/Bellevue, which ranked as the sixth-worst urban area in the U.S. for car theft in 2005, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, police say Moynihan's spree is breathtaking in its scope.

Moynihan has a lengthy criminal history stretching back to his juvenile years, including charges of assault, residential burglary, possession of stolen property and malicious mischief.

In September 2005 he pleaded guilty to first-degree possession of stolen property for stealing a 2000 Ford Escort and was sentenced to two months in jail and financial restitution.

He was arrested again in May after police say he stole a green 1995 Plymouth Voyager from a Crown Hill home and, when they tried to pull him over, bailed out of the moving vehicle, leaving the car to coast on its own into an intersection. By then, Moynihan had made Seattle's Top 10 police list of suspected car thieves.

While in jail, a detective approached him and encouraged him to talk about the details of his escapades.

Amazingly, Moynihan remembered minute details about his thefts, police say, taking them on several "field trips" throughout the city and pointing out places where he had stolen, attempted to steal, or dumped already-stolen cars.

"It was mind-boggling that a person had that type of memory," the detective said. "He was bothered by what he'd done, but he didn't think there was any way out."

In the ensuing months, police investigated. According to the charging papers, Moynihan used a screwdriver and hammer to pry open the windows of cars and, once inside, get into the steering columns and break the ignition locks. He then used the screwdriver to start the engines.

He was most comfortable with Subarus and Hondas "because he knew them inside out," the lead detective said.

Cory Thal, the owner of C&J Auto Body Sales, reported a 1991 Plymouth Voyager stolen from his lot, a theft police blame on Moynihan. Over the years, he said, dozens of vehicles have been stolen from his two Lake City Way locations.

"But as far as I know, this is the only person to ever get caught," Thal said.

Trina McKinstry's 2002 Chrysler Sebring was stolen in March from her carport on 15th Avenue Northeast and found the next day.

"I was delighted when the Seattle police called me to tell me [the thief] had been caught," she said. "I'm not in love with my car, but some people are and I'm pleased it worked out as it did."

Moynihan is being held in jail in lieu of $150,000 bail and is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday.

Despite what police and prosecutors say is a successful arrest in this case and a drop in thefts throughout the county — a 26 percent decrease from January to September of this year compared with the same period in 2005 — car thefts are still a major problem for Seattle and surrounding areas, they say.

"It's still far too many for a city of our size," said City Attorney Tom Carr, who last year led a pilot project to increase jail time for car thieves.

The city has about 600 gross-misdemeanor car-theft cases a month, down from a previous average of 900, he said. In the past 12 months, the number of auto thieves prosecuted has increased 28 percent, according to the county prosecutor's office.

Part of the problem is sentencing restrictions, said Maleng. State sentencing guidelines only allow for prison sentences of over a year for thieves who have seven or more convictions. Maleng wants to see a three-strikes-you're-out approach instead.

Even if Moynihan is found guilty and sentenced to 10 years, he is eligible to have half that time shaved off for good behavior. "Those laws need to be reformed," Maleng said.

Natalie Singer: 206-464-2704

[AVToller]

The guy is a piker. Back when I ran a group home for "disturbed adolescents" on an interim basis back in 1979, there was a 14 year-old who had already stolen over 100 cars and motorcycles. His first bust was for speeding under the Lionsgate Bridge in a stolen motorboat - at age 8!!

I could tell many stories about the lad, but during his stay, he stole a car on the way home from school, got involved in a high speed chase in North Vancouver, and almost side-swiped ME in the process. I wasn't aware that he was the driver until he failed to show up at the group home. I contacted the police and they told be what had happened, including the fact that the chase involved an accident in which two officers received relatively non-serious injuries.

I was asked if I wanted the boy (and his accomplice) returned to the group home. I said no, so they were held at the youth detention facility. They escaped, and stole a long line of cars, eventually leading to their arrest in San Francisco. Police estimated that they "liberated" between 18-22 cars on the way.

The 14 year-old's stated goal was to steal every make and model of car sold in North America. Up to the time of our conversation, his favourite was the Spitfire - "slow, but really fun to toss about". His least favourite was a Cadillac Fleetwood - "wallows like a pig". The boy did have a certain charm. 

[dr_spock]

Whatever happened to that boy?

[AVToller]

Whatever happened to that boy?

Unfortunately I have no idea. The last I heard, the Canadian government was trying to have him returned to Canada. A "permanent" replacement was found to run the group home, and I dropped out of the loop.

He was a completely charming scamp. During one of his court appearances for car theft, there as a bit of a delay in the proceedings. He told the judge that he had noticed her car in the parking lot, and offered to clean it for her if she would only flip him the keys. She choked, declared a brief recess, went to her chambers and laughed until she cried - or so she said later. 

[tpl]

He is probably a Minister of transport now...somewhere

[safristi]

Prolly Jim(err MIKE KENZIE.......

[AVToller]

Nah, his first name was Mike. 

[dr_spock]

Nah, his first name was Mike. 

Was his last name Harris?

[AVToller]

Nah, his first name was Mike. 

Was his last name Harris?

No, and he was a BC boy through and through. Your question made me realize that he is now 41  assuming that he is still alive. My, I'm getting OLD. 

[dr_spock]

Nah, his first name was Mike. 

Was his last name Harris?

No, and he was a BC boy through and through. Your question made me realize that he is now 41  assuming that he is still alive. My, I'm getting OLD. 

My apologies.

[AVToller]

No apologies necessary. Getting old is a lot of fun - if you've got the right attitude. 

[safristi]

DID he steal yer WALKER?.......

[barrie1]

I remember a guy like that here in London who was into stealing dozs of cars all the time. Probably stole around 200 before he stopped. Someone gave him a car and he never stole another one again. For him that was all it took to turn him around. A Car of his own. 

[The Fuzz]

Some of these little ba$tards will steal 5 - 10 cars a day instead of using the bus. They steal one, drop it and steal another and so on. They leave a trail of stolen cars and wasted money for the owners.

[si]

In the paper today;

137 cars stolen this year in Saanich so far, up from 95.

423 in Nanaimo

363 in Delta

and surprisingly, 595 in Kelowna.


Two of my friends, one with a pathfinder, and one with a civic, have had their cars stolen, and found stripped up island.