New York Daily News

NEW YORK – A bizarre New York crime wave that leaves car owners doorless has investigators clueless.

The “Whole of the Door Gang” is swooping down on Toyotas across Queens, stunning car owners who find their vehicles with huge gaps where the back doors used to be.

Cops have investigated at least six cases of stolen doors in the last three months in the 109th Precinct, which mostly covers Flushing.

The expensive doors, which can cost up to $5,000 to replace, are nearly impossible to find at salvage yards, creating what some fear may be an emerging black market.

“It’s hard to find a used door for Camrys and Highlanders, because owners keep the cars for so long,” said Jason Martinez, a damage adjuster for Geico.

So the streets become their marketplace.

The vehicles are different makes and models, and likely unrelated crimes, a police source said. The thieves sell the doors to chop shops or unscrupulous salvage yards and repair shops. Police say some shops try to pass the doors off as new, pocketing a profit after overcharging customers.

Insurance investigators say the crime wave has stretched into other parts of Queens, primarily doors stolen from Toyota Camrys and Highlanders.

One hapless victim walked outside his home in Flushing about two weeks ago to find the back door of his Toyota Highlander snatched clear off the hinges in his own driveway. Nothing else was missing.

Martinez, who handled that victim’s $5,200 insurance claim, said he examined the SUV at the repair shop of a Toyota dealership. While he was there, he saw another Highlander and a Toyota Camry.

Each of the vehicles had a back door missing, and the driver’s side lock had been popped. When he went back to his office, he mentioned the bizarre crimes to his colleagues.

“Oh, you got one of those, too?” a co-worker asked.

A repairman at the Queens dealership said the miniwave of stolen doors is reminiscent of similar crimes in years past where thieves targeted xenon headlights and air bags from all makes and models.

“It goes in spurts,” he said.

The repairman, who spoke on the condition that his name not be used, said Toyota doors are easy to remove.

“The manufacturers make cars easier to take apart, so they’re easier to repair,” he said. “It doesn’t occur to them that they’re also making them easier to steal.”

Some criminals are so deft at their craft, they can remove the doors in minutes after disabling alarms and without damaging the vehicles.

A company spokesman said he wasn’t aware of Toyota cars being targeted for their doors and wouldn’t talk about the alleged ease with which they’re stolen.

Prosecutors in Queens said they’re not aware of any recent arrests for stealing car doors. Auto theft investigators added that the recent crimes are probably isolated.

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