NYC family ‘scared to sleep’ after luxury car thieves strike

A burglary crew targeting homes containing high-end cars seemingly knew just where to look when they snatched the keys to one Queens family’s luxe vehicles, the rattled homeowner told the Daily News.

The team of break-in artists has struck 13 times since June, taking Mercedes Benz sedans, an Audi SUV and BMWs from a string of homes in Queens and Brooklyn, cops said.

They didn’t stay long when they came calling at Syeda Begum’s home near Cambridge Road and Somerset St. in Jamaica Estates July 23 — just enough time to steal her family’s Range Rover and Porsche.

“After this thing happened I’m very scared,” the 50-year-old mother of two said. “We were scared to sleep. They might be coming another time to get another thing.”

One of her two sons washed both vehicles and left them in the driveway instead of in the garage.

“I have young sons so they love the sporty car. For them, I bought it. One for me and one for my older son,” she explained.

The burglars came to the home when the family was sleeping, and when Begum woke up for prayers at 5 a.m., she noticed the family cat had been let out.

At 7 a.m., her older son noticed the kitchen window was ajar, and the back kitchen window was open. Then he realized the cars were gone. Begum’s house was one of nine targeted in a nine-day spree, cops said.

“We don’t hear any sound,” she said. “We checked the camera. We saw two people.”

Other than a camera system, the house didn’t have any alarm installed — a fact Begum believes the burglars must have figured out.

“I don’t know if it’s an inside job or not. But exactly they know where we kept the key,” she said. “They just exactly came through the window. They knew where we put the keys. They took the keys and left. Boom. Five minutes.”

She added, “How could that be possible? If you come inside the room and don’t touch anything? Just grab the key and go.”

The family had a tracker in the Porsche, and police found it in New Jersey. But cops have not recovered the Range Rover.

“My son was crying. Not only the money, also the time consumed,” she said of the Porsche. “It was a beautiful car inside and out. Not even one scratch.”

She thinks that her block was targeted “because most of the people over here are professionals. They have the money.”

The Daily News Flash

Weekdays

Catch up on the day’s top five stories every weekday afternoon.

Police released photos of the burglary crew on Sunday, tying them to 12 other break-ins since June 2.

The burglary team typically operates as a three- or four-person team and strikes in the early hours of the morning, focusing mostly on the Whitestone neighborhood of Queens, cops said.

One Whitestone resident said that his neighborhood made for the perfect target, full of wealthy homes whose owners don’t expect to be touched by crime.

“It’s tucked away. It’s quiet,” said the resident, who declined to give his name. “You don’t expect it and there are nice cars.” Neighbors have heard the burglary crew might hail from New Jersey, he said.

The thieves have also targeted homes in the Queens neighborhoods Bayside and Holliswood, and the Brooklyn neighborhoods Bay Ridge and Manhattan Beach.

They haven’t always gotten away clean, though. In their first three attempts the crooks were chased off by a homeowner or tripped an alarm, cops said.

Police are asking anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS.