Criminal gang believed to be behind car break-ins and thefts in Kansas City
(June 29, 2017)
KANSAS CITY, MO. – A group of roving thieves known as the Felony Lane Gang appears responsible for a series of recent crimes in Kansas City.
Last weekend, multiple people were reportedly victims of the gang here.
Typically the criminals stake out parking lots outside swimming pools or day cares or fitness centers and look for women getting out of their cars and walking into the businesses without purses. They count on the habit of people who leave purses and wallets in their cars at such locations, according to law enforcement officials. The gang will also steal identity information from dumpsters and garbage cans, even information that has been shredded. It is not clear how that information is used.
Often, using the identity stolen from a victim, they will attempt to cash forged checks made out to that victim from the checkbook of a second victim.
The group was dubbed the Felony Lane Gang because they would usually use the outer lane of a bank drive-through to avoid being scrutinized by tellers and to provide an easy avenue of escape.
They seldom stay in a city for more than a few days and their transient nature makes them difficult to identity and catch, police said.
It is not known if the people who committed the Kansas City crimes were responsible, police said, but police said they all had the same “M.O.”
Anyone with information on these crimes should contact the police, or this newspaper.