UTICA, N.Y. (WUTR/WFXV/WPNY) – The Utica Police Department is reporting that a man has been arrested for allegedly attempting to steal parts from a parked car in the City of Utica.
Around 12:40pm on Saturday December 4th, UPD was dispatched to the Dollar General on the 1700 block of Erie Street after receiving a call that a man was doing something suspicious underneath a car in the parking lot.
When an investigator arrived on the scene they found the vehicle up on a jack, with who would later be identified as 37-year-old Brian Land of Leonardsville, allegedly underneath doing something with “sawzall” style power tool. UPD has been seeing an increase in catalytic converters thefts in the area recently, resulting in several other arrests and the investigator immediately suspected that the man was trying to commit the same crime.
The investigator confronted Land and recognized him has being the suspect in other open cases involving this type of theft, as well as allegedly being involved in damaging several NYS Department of Transportation vehicles back in February of 2021.
Brian Land was taken into custody and charged with the following for the incident back in February:
- Criminal Mischief in the Third Degree
- Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree
The investigation is still on-going and charges are still pending from the incident that took place on December 4th. Eyewitness news will continue to update this story with new information as it is available
