H. Beach, Woodside Residents Stole, Sold Building Machinery

A sales manager with a Maspeth construction equipment dealership was among four individuals indicted on charges that they allegedly part of a ring that stole and sold heavyduty machinery, it was announced last Wednesday, Nov. 20.

According to the Kings County District Attorney's office, Guy Losito, 39, of 158th Avenue in Howard Beach and an employee of Bobcat of New York on Maurice Avenue in Maspeth, allegedly conspired with three others to orchestrate the theft and sale of backhoes, Bobcat loaders and other devices from local construction sites.

The three other individuals named in the indictment were identified by law enforcement sources as Gustavo Badolati, 36, of 158th Avenue in Howard Beach; Petre Vanau, 46, of 69th Street in Woodside; and Jacques Guillet, 74, of Woodlands Avenue in upstate White Plains.

Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes noted in a statement that the charges resulted from a joint investigation conducted by the office along with the New York Police Department's Auto Crimes Unit of the Organized Crime Control Bureau and the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

In his capacity as sales manager for Bobcat of New York, as noted in the indictment, Losito allegedly used his knowledge of machinery sales and rentals to target certain items for theft.

Reportedly, he recruited a number of other individuals to steal the heavy duty machinery from construction sites in the New York City metropolitan area.

Once the items were stolen, it is alleged, the machinery was brought to a storage facility operated by Guillet on McGuinness Boulevard near Ash Street in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, or a location operated by Vanau on Vernon Boulevard near 43rd Avenue in Long Island City.

While held in storage at each location, prosecutors said, the defendants allegedly removed and replaced the identification plates from the stolen devices in an attempt to keep their true identities hidden.

The indictment further alleges that Badolati purchased the stolen equipment for local use, while Vanau bought the devices and then resold them to customers based in Romania.

During the course of their investigation, law enforcement sources said, detectives worked together with Bobcat of New York on a sting operation to track down those allegedly responsible for the theft of the heavy-duty devices.

During the sting, Bobcat loaders and other equipment were fitted with GPS units and placed in locations where they would be vulnerable to theft.

Members of the NYPD then used the GPS devices to track the movement of the machinery.

Soon after the operation was set up, prosecutors said, Losito was made aware of two of the targeted machines: a Bobcat 853H backhoe and a Bobcat S250 steel shift loader. He then allegedly arranged for and supervised the theft of both machines.

Reportedly, the suspect ordered his "steal man" to take the 853H to Vanau's Long Island City facility and the S250 to Guillet's Greenpoint storage site.

Police eventually recovered the 853H from the rear yard of a Queens residence, while the S250— which allegedly had been purchased by Badolati—was recovered from a local construction site.

During a search of Guillet's storage yard, law enforcement sources said, two other stolen devices were recovered: a full-size Caterpillar 420 backhoe, which had been reported stolen from a construction site in January 2007; and a Bobcat 75 shift loader reportedly stolen from a horticultural business in 1994.

All four suspects were variously charged with fifth-degree conspiracy, third-degree attempted grand larceny and attempted criminal possession of stolen property. Losito and Guillet were additionally charged with third-degree grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.

The case is being prosecuted by Senior Investigative Attorney Nicholas J. Batsidis and Rackets Division Executive Assistant District Attorney Christopher Blank, which is supervised by division chief Michael Vecchione.