AUBURN ― Three Boston men were arrested in connection with the theft last week of a fleet of mostly new vehicles from a long-term car rental service on Route 20.
“A total of 16 cars were stolen. And, actually, all 16 were recovered,” Deputy Chief Scott Mills of the Auburn police said. “Our guys got on it but state police helped quite a bit. Boston Police helped, Natick PD.”
At 7 a.m. Thursday, police started investigating a reported burglary committed overnight at Flexcar, located at 525 Washington St.
Mills said the Auburn police initially received a call from the New York City Police Department that they had recovered a stolen car from Auburn.
“And we were like, ‘What? We didn’t even know it was stolen,’” Mills said. “And, one thing, kind of backwards, led to another and then we went up there.”
Initially, Flexcar told police that it could have been as many as 10 or 12 more vehicles stolen, Mills said. It turned out to be 16, he said.
At Flexcar, police found two sections of fence cut and a secure gate damaged by someone driving a large vehicle through to make an exit, Mills said.
Around 4 p.m. Thursday, detectives located nine of the stolen vehicles at the Natick Mall parking lot, three vehicles hidden in Auburn and another in South Boston.
“They would take the vehicles from Flexcar. They drove them to BJ’s (Wholesale Club at 777 Washington St.),” Mills said. “So they drove them up the street to BJ’s where they staged and then, from there, they went to either the Natick Mall or other places.”
Mills said the three men who were arrested had keys to most of the cars with them and it appears they made three trips back and forth to Auburn before the crime spree was done.
Stolen cars included a 2020 Jeep Grand Cherokee, a 2021 Ford F-150, a 2021 Ford Mustang (electric), a 2021 Toyota 4runner, a 2022 Cadillac CT4, two 2022 Chevy Malibus, a 2022 Ford Edge, a 2022 Ram 1500, a 2022 Honda Passport, two 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokees, a 2022 Jeep Wagoneer, a 2022 Toyota Avalon, a 2022 Toyota Tacoma and a 2024 Ford Explorer.
“Most of the cars were intact, with no damage,” Mills said.
Mills said the Explorer and Cadillac were found in Dorchester.
Around 8 p.m. Thursday, state police spotted the stolen Cadillac traveling on Route 90 near Natick. When the OnStar system was activated to slow down the car, the driver, Mohamed Abbas, 23, attempted to run but was quickly apprehended, according to police.
“They activated the OnStar on one of the stolen vehicles,” Mills said. “OnStar, basically, got in and shut it down. They slowed the vehicle down, put the hazards on and when the guys got slowed down enough, one of them bailed on foot and they were caught.”
All of the vehicles were recovered by police by 5:45 p.m. Friday.
The state police charged Abbas, Hamza Jeilani, 23, and Musab Mandar, 21, with receiving a stolen motor vehicle and other charges. Bail for Abbas was set at $25,000 cash, while bail for Jeilani and Mandar was set at $15,000 each.
The Auburn police are expected to charge the three men with additional offenses.