Kenosha County car theft ring; 23 indicted in multi-year operation

Kenosha County car theft ring; 23 indicted

Several people have been charged in a car theft ring operation in southeast Wisconsin, particularly in Kenosha County.

KENOSHA COUNTY, Wis. - Several people have been charged in a car theft ring operation in southeast Wisconsin, particularly in Kenosha County.

What we know:

Kenosha County Sheriff David Zoerner said with the assistance of the Kenosha County Drug Operations Group, numerous members of the interstate car theft ring have been federally charged for their roles in the operation.

The backstory:

This investigation began back in 2022 with a found license plate on a rural Kenosha County highway, which was later determined to have come from a stolen vehicle out of Milwaukee. 

KDOG detectives began working the case, and over the course of three years, numerous search warrants were executed from La Crosse, Madison, Sun Prairie, Milwaukee and Racine, to Chicago, resulting in the identification of the key figures in this multi-million-dollar criminal enterprise.

"It all began with the license plate," Zoerner said. "Volvos, BMWs, brand-new trucks, Hellcats, Cherokee."

FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX LOCAL Mobile app for iOS or Android

The Kenosha County Sheriff’s Office said more than 175 high-end cars were targeted and stolen.

Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport is one of several locations where investigators say cars have been stolen in connection to the operation. They did it by using professional-grade scanning devices and cloning tools.

Dig deeper:

Investigators say the people involved swapped out VIN plates and radios then sold the cars throughout the country for cash, below their value.

The money then went to phony LLCs then to real estate purchases. Those properties were then sold to launder the money connected to stolen weapons, heroin and meth.

"It was a very sophisticated operation," Zoerner said. "All the food groups are represented by guns, drugs and money. There's a lot of money."

SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News

It all led to the federal indictments of 23 people.

KDOG detectives identified Diaunte Shields, Casha Griffin, Brianna Shields, Lashawn Davis Jr. and Meliek McClarn as part of the suspects in the indictment.

"Although we have people in custody, you never know who's working with them and how many more investigations an investigation might be coming to fruition based on their charges," the sheriff said.