Not A Clean Getaway: Upstate Man Broke Into One Car Wash 10 Times

While you see it fairly often in TV shows and movies, criminals rarely return to the scene of the crime. Why would they? It only increases their risk of being caught. Most leave the place behind for good to enjoy their ill-gotten gains – but one Upstate man allegedly put up double digit visits to the same car wash in maybe New York’s most oddly targeted spree.

On April 22, New York State Troopers were called to the Cantele Car Wash on Fairview Avenue in Greenport to investigate two different burglaries. By the time State Police concluded their investigation, a 35-year-old Stockport man was taken into custody for robbing this same wash ten times.

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What the alleged thief lacked in creativity, he made up for in persistence and baffling determination. He stole over $4,000 from a vending machine and coin dispenser between April and July, while causing damage to the property. Clearly the man, unlike the wash itself, was not "soft touch."

This isn’t the first time the Cantele Car Wash has been a target. A HudsonValley360 report says it had been robbed in November of 2019 and February of 2011. Each time was part of a larger theft ring involving multiple businesses, because, once again, most criminals are smart enough to avoid the place that’s actively looking to put them behind bars.

The suspected thief now faces ten counts of third-degree burglary, plus second-degree criminal mischief and third-degree grand larceny charges. Each individual charge is a felony that could lead to a separate seven-year prison sentence if he is convicted.