North Babylon man stole 7 vehicles in a week's time, Suffolk police say
A North Babylon man was arrested and charged with nine counts of grand larceny after he crashed a Honda Accord Tuesday morning, one of seven vehicles he stole in a week, Suffolk police said.
Mathew Christianson, 21, crashed the Accord into a utility pole about 6:30 a.m. at the corner of Miller Avenue and White Street in North Babylon, officials said. The vehicle had been reported stolen Monday in Smithtown, police said. After crashing, Christianson fled on foot but was arrested by First Precinct officers a short time later, cops said.
Starting on April 14, Christianson committed several grand larcenies and a burglary in the jurisdictions of the First, Third and Fourth precincts, officials said.
Along with the Accord, cops said he stole the following vehicles:
- A 2013 Hyundai Tucson from a North Babylon home April 14
- A 2007 Mitsubishi FE180 in Lindenhurst on April 18
- A 2008 Ford Econoline E250 in Lindenhurst on April 18
- A 2015 Dodge pickup truck stolen in Commack on Sunday
- A 2014 Dodge Ram pickup stolen from a home in North Amityville on Monday
- A 2009 Ford van from a parking lot in Brentwood on Monday
In addition, Christianson is accused of stealing multiple cellphones and credit cards, police said. He is also accused of burglarizing American Building Contractors at 805 Albin Ave. in Lindenhurst on April 18, authorities said.
Christianson is charged with nine counts of third-degree grand larceny, four counts of fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, second-degree criminal mischief, third-degree criminal mischief, third-degree burglary, four counts of petit larceny, leaving the scene of a crash with property damage and second-degree unlawful possession of marijuana, police said.
Christianson was arraigned Wednesday and granted supervised released with electronic monitoring, said Sheila Kelly, a spokeswoman for the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office.
Christianson's Mineola-based attorney Robert Schalk said: "We are waiting for the district attorney’s office to provide us with discovery under the law. And we’ll have future comment after reviewing that discovery.”
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