Feds charge five in connection to alleged D.C. auto theft ring

Federal prosecutors unsealed a 15-count indictment Tuesday charging five individuals — with a sixth remaining a fugitive — in connection with an alleged auto theft ring operating in the Washington metropolitan area and Pennsylvania that included at least 20 stolen vehicles that were transported across state lines, and sold to buyers in the United States and Ghana.

The indictment, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, follows a year-long investigation into a conspiracy that law enforcement suspects is linked to the theft of more than 100 vehicles in the District of Columbia and more than 30 in Prince George’s County, Maryland. Investigators also executed a search warrant at an automobile storage facility in Decatur, Georgia, believed to be connected to the ring.

Those charged are Jacob Hernandez, 29, of Los Angeles; Dustin Wetzel, 23, of Woodbridge, Virginia; James Young, 23, of Hyattsville, Maryland; Khobe David, 24, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland; and Chance Clark, 25, of Waldorf, Maryland. A sixth defendant remains at large, and the indictment against that individual remains sealed.

According to the indictment, the conspirators used electronic devices to reprogram vehicles to accept previously blank key fobs, allowing them to steal cars without breaking in. The ring targeted primarily recently manufactured Honda Civics and CRVs and Acura TLXs and RDXs.

Stolen vehicles were transported to storage locations that included a parking garage in Southeast Washington, D.C., where co-conspirators allegedly swapped license plates and obscured Vehicle Identification Numbers to disguise the cars’ appearances. Before moving the vehicles, defendants allegedly disabled GPS and Bluetooth capabilities to evade detection.

All six indicted individuals face charges of conspiracy to possess, sell, and transport stolen motor vehicles.

The case was investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia’s Criminal Investigations Unit, and the FBI Washington Field Office, with assistance from the Prince George’s County Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jacob Green and Michael Lee and Trial Attorney Haley Pennington are prosecuting the case.

Law enforcement said the investigation into the defendants’ broader involvement in vehicle thefts across the region is ongoing.

An indictment is a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of criminal law and is not evidence of guilt. Every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.