Motorcycle theft ring busted in Hillsborough County

Tampa, Florida -- If you were to ask Edwin Comacho whether he thought he'd ever see his motorcycle again after it was stolen in November 2009, he'd say, 'No way!'

Well, on Thursday the seemingly impossible happened. He got his stolen bike back.

"I'm happy today," he said.

He's among at least 12 people who were able to reclaim their stolen motorcycles at the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

"They repainted her," he said as he looked down at his bike red, white and blue painted bike, "The original color was silver with blue rims, they did the patriotic thing I guess."

Detectives say they noticed the trend of stolen motorcycles in 2010 and eventually zeroed in on three suspects, Joshua Jay Friedman, James Raymond Mergl, and Eric Manes.

But, this alleged theft ring was out of the norm. Usually thieves will steal the bikes and sell them for parts.

Detectives say the suspects would steal the bikes, change the VIN number, get a new title and sell the bikes at full value on Craigslist.

It's estimated they're linked to as many as 50 motorcycle thefts throughout the county. 22 of the bikes have been recovered so far.

Andrew Graham is one of the victims. He says his motorcycle was stolen outside of his home in September 2009.

"To notice something you've been working hard for is gone, it's bad when someone has to steal from you," said Graham.

The motorcycle was his only means of transportation and he didn't have insurance. He says his father let him borrow his car while he saved up to buy another bike, even though he was still making payments on the stolen bike.

"The first thought in my head was 'Oh my God, thank you," he said when he got word the motorcycle had been recovered along with 21 other stolen bikes.

The original owners aren't the only victims in this case. Detectives say the second set of victims who bought the stolen bikes and are now out whatever they paid for bikes which were returned.

Lt. Fred Asteasuainzarra with HCSO says it should serve as a warning for anyone looking to buy a used motorcycle, "If you are going to buy a motorcycle and you see it on Craigslist and you see that something was been altered on the motorcycle, question that decision."

He says it's not always easy to tell a VIN number has been changed, but you can look out for a number that appears has been altered or any evidence of the original number being scratched out.

If you have concerns, he says you can bring your bike to local law enforcement to have it checked out.

Monica Budimlya was finally able to get her bike back on Thursday after it was stolen in November. She noticed a few changes, for the better. "I was a new driver and kind of broke that off and these were broken," she said as she pointed to different parts of her bike.

Rather than coming back in pieces, her motorcycle actually came back with more bells and whistles...courtesy, if you can even say that, of the accused thieves.

Joshua Jay Friedman is facing 48 felony charges, James Raymond Mergl is facing 5 felony charges, and Eric Manes is facing 27 felony charges.

Additional arrests are pending.



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