A group of New York men were charged with driving a luxury vehicle off the lot of a Butler Township dealership last year and are also accused of committing similar crimes across several states, according to state police.
Officers say three men, Mohamed Lo, 20; El Hadje Cisse, 20; and Momodou S. Jallow, 24, all from Bronx, N.Y. stole dozens of vehicles using slight of hand and fake key fobs.
The three men were charged Tuesday, May 28, with four counts of felony theft and two counts of felony conspiracy in relation to the theft of a Cadillac Escalade from Baglier Buick GMC in Butler Township in June 2023.
The investigation led officers to information on other vehicles stolen from Massachusetts, Ohio, Kentucky and Michigan, according to the affidavits.
Police said around 6 p.m. June 5, 2023, a black Range Rover with a Massachusetts registration pulled into the Baglier dealership. Surveillance video shows the Range Rover came to Butler from New York City.
Two men expressed interest in a Cadillac Escalade at the dealership, according to documents. While speaking with a salesperson, police said the men took videos of the vehicle, saying that they worked for a luxury transportation service and were in search of another vehicle.
The salesperson handed a key fob for the Escalade to one of the men, which he then switched out with a fake fob and handed back, police said. Documents showed the men looked at a few other vehicles before leaving the dealership.
The occupants of the vehicle were later identified as Lo, Cisse and Jallow based on cellphone tower data, police said.
According to surveillance footage, the black Range Rover returned to the dealership around 9:20 that night. Police said two men exited the Range Rover, opened the Escalade using the stolen key fob, entered it and drove off on Route 8. The Range Rover also left the scene, police said.
Police said the Range Rover used in the Butler Township theft was stolen from a Massachusetts dealership, along with an Audi Q8, on May 28, 2023. The Audi was eventually recovered, according to documents.
On June 2, a few days before the Butler Township theft, police said another Cadillac Escalade was stolen from a different Massachusetts dealership by men matching Cisse’s and Jallow’s descriptions. That theft also happened through the switching of key fobs.
On July 14, police said a BMW X7 was stolen from Diehl Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram in Moon Township, Allegheny County, by suspects matching descriptions of Lo, Cisse, and Jallow from other incidents.
Cellphone data collected from the men’s phone providers confirmed they were in the areas where the alleged thefts took place, according to documents. Their phone numbers were also in communication with each other, police said.
In addition, police said they later discovered photos of stolen vehicles and plates in Lo’s Apple accounts.
According to data collected from a cloud account belonging to Cisse, he purchased multiple vehicle key fobs on eBay.
In a separate incident detailed later in police documents, Cisse was found with 10 key fobs to luxury vehicles, two screwdrivers and a ski mask when he was questioned during a traffic stop in Doylestown.
Police said Cisse’s Google search history also indicated he looked up dealerships and gas stations in Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, Missouri, New York, Michigan, North Carolina, Maine and New Hampshire. In addition, police said Cisse had access to multiple PayPal accounts.
On Feb. 5, investigators said they were informed of more vehicle thefts in other states that occurred in 2023 and could be connected to Lo, Cisse and Jallow.
According to documents, the men were accused of being involved in the theft of a Bentley Bentayga, Range Rover and BMW from dealerships in Ohio. Police said there were also attempts to take two other BMWs from a dealership in August 2023 using key fobs purchased by Cisse.
Police said there were also attempts in September 2023 to steal a Range Rover and a BMW from a Michigan dealership, and Cisse’s cellphone was found to be in that area.
From May to September 2023, police said, the men were connected to the thefts of a Range Rover in Maine; a BMW and Mercedes-Benz, that was eventually recovered by police, in Ohio; a BMW and Range Rover in Kentucky; three more BMWs from Ohio; a Ford Mustang, a Toyota Highlander and a Chevy Silverado from North Carolina; and two BMWs from Michigan.
Preliminary hearings for Lo, Cisse and Jallow have not yet been scheduled.
