NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Four men have been arrested in connection with a pair of JFK Airport-based heists that netted more than $6 million worth of Gucci purses, Chanel handbags and other designer merchandise, prosecutors said Thursday.
David Lacarriere, 33, of Manhattan, Gary McArthur, 43, of Queens, Davon Davis, 32, of Queens, and Alan Vu, 51, of Jersey City were arrested and charged in connection with the heists and sale of the goods on Wednesday, the Queens District Attorney’s office said Thursday.
“Teaming up with our law enforcement partners, we relentlessly pursued the suspects, who allegedly used forged documents and their insider knowledge as former airport workers to steal air cargo,” District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement.
Prosecutors say Lacarriere, who used to work as a trucker at JFK Airport, went to a receiving office at the airport on Jan. 31 and showed employees a forged document with a bill and flight details for a Prada shipment.
He, McArthur — another former JFK Airport trucker — and two accomplices then loaded $804,000 worth of Prada bags, clothes and accessories into a truck and drove off, according to prosecutors.
On May 17, Lacarriere, McArthur, Davis and the same accomplices showed up at the airport with another forged document, the DA’s office said. That time, they allegedly made off with more than $4.4 million in Chanel and Gucci merchandise.
Police officers working the case traced McArthur, Lacarriere, Davis and an accomplice to a shuttered beauty salon in Jamaica Queens the following month, prosecutors said. The salon served as a “stash house” for the stolen merchandise, the DA's office said.
Officers monitoring the salon saw a “middle man” selling some of the stolen items, including Chanel handbags, to Vu, who loaded them into a Mercedes SUV, according to prosecutors.
When the officers went into the salon after obtaining a search warrant, they found “mountains of boxes” filled with more than $2.5 million worth of Gucci clothes and bags, Chanel purses, jewelry and sunglasses and other designer goods, the DA’s office said.
Police are still searching for the two accomplices who helped carry off the heists.
Attorney information for Lacarriere, McArthur, Davis and Vu wasn’t immediately available Thursday.