Police at the 114th Precinct last week dismantled a two-man car theft operation that long plagued an Astoria neighborhood.
Plainclothes Anti-Crime cops and patrol officers at the Astoria Boulevard station house who staked out a location near Hoyt Avenue saw their efforts pay off on August 17 when they arrested George Tsintzelis, 23, and Joseph D’Eluise, 43, both of Queens, in connection with a string of car thefts in the area, police said.
Police recovered a number of items found in possession of the two men at the time of their arrests - personal items belonging to motorists whose vehicles were allegedly swiped off the streets by Tsintzelis and D’Eluise, police said.
They were both charged with criminal possession of stolen property and criminal trespass at their arraignments at Queens Criminal Court.
                           

—Liz Goff