NATICK, Mass. — The Felony Lane Gang is a loosely organized nationwide crime syndicate made up of more than 800 people and in recent weeks members have been targeting Massachusetts residents.
The gang is suspected of breaking into cars and homes in Natick, Framingham, Weston, Holliston, Hopkinton, Ashland, Foxborough, Braintree, Waltham and Marlborough.
“We tell clients that they should not leave their purse or anything in their car because it doesn’t happen often but you never know with this group now,” Natalie Racine, a tennis instructor at the Wayside Athletic Club in Marlborough said.
Police suspect the Felony Lane Gang is likely recently targeted cars parked at the club and at a nearby school.
“The fact they are coming from the south, I heard Florida or something, it's very surprising,” Raccine said.
The crooks will take any valuables they can get, but what they are most interested in is pocketbooks and purses.
The gang's main and most profitable racket is bank fraud. In the pocket books and purses they steal are checkbooks, debit cards, and drivers’ licenses. All the things needed to drain someone's bank account.
“We’ve seen that in a lot of the towns with a lot of random break-ins with vagabonds going around doing that so it wasn't really surprising,” Lance Andersen said.
The felony lane gang will hit dozens of cars in multiple communities in a matter of hours if a vehicle is locked because they will use a special tool to smash a window open.