NYC Fraud Crew Intercepted in Greenwich

On January 17, 2026, Greenwich Police successfully intercepted an out-of-town "fraud crew" moving along East Putnam Avenue from Riverside to Old Greenwich. The arrest highlights the flow of professional criminals into affluent suburbs, like Greenwich.

The Arrest: A License Plate Reader (LPR) alerted Greenwich patrol units that a stolen vehicle had entered Greenwich near I-95 Exit 5. Officers converged on a Shell Gas Station located at 1429 East Putnam Avenue near the Greenwich Hyatt. They boxed in a U-Haul truck that had been reported stolen through both the NYPD and U-Haul corporate security. During questioning, the three men provided "inconsistent and conflicting statements" regarding their origin, destination, and the circumstances of the vehicle's use.

The Suspects: Three men from the NYC area were detained. All were held on $100,000 bonds:

Abdu-Rahein Joseph Doolittle (52, Forest Hills, NY): Found with counterfeit driver’s licenses and counterfeit Citibank credit cards. Charged with Larceny 1st, Forgery 2nd (2 counts), and Forgery 3rd (2 counts).

Calvin T. Doolittle (40, Astoria, NY): Charged with Conspiracy to Commit Larceny 1st.

James Lee Cummings (30, Bronx, NY): Charged with Conspiracy to Commit Larceny 1st.

Why Riverside/Old Greenwich:

Greenwich is a high-yield "hunting ground" for professional crews. Its position along the I-95 Pipeline allows NYC-based groups to strike and retreat across state lines in under 30 minutes. In busy commercial hubs like Riverside, a U-Haul or nondescript SUV blends in perfectly, allowing criminals to scout high-value targets or use forged documents at local retailers without raising immediate suspicion.

The LPR Advantage:

The success of these arrests highlights a shift toward proactive policing. License Plate Readers (LPRs) act as a 24/7 sentry at town entry points, instantly "pinging" stolen plates against national crime databases before a suspect even reaches a stoplight. By using this technology as a force multiplier, Greenwich Police can identify known threats—like this "fraud crew"—and disrupt identity theft operations before a single local resident is victimized.

Between the Lines: This wasn’t just a stolen truck recovery; it was the disruption of an active identity theft operation. It raises the ultimate modern suburbia question: Is the trade-off of increased surveillance worth the guarantee of lower crime? In Riverside and Old Greenwich this past January, the answer was a resounding yes.

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