Man Sentenced For Stealing Almost $94K Of Bags From East Hampton Shop

EAST HAMPTON, NY — A New Jersey man was sentenced to prison Friday for his role in the theft of almost $94,000 worth of handbags from the Balenciaga store in East Hampton in March.

According to Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney, Jamal Johns, 26, was sentenced to three-and-a-half to five years in prison.

Johns pleaded guilty to second-degree grand larceny as well as second-degree criminal possession of stolen property and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, Tierney said.

Johns was arrested on March 3 after he, along with Ali Harris, 28, Wazir Rodgers, 25, and Baseemah Davis, 34, all of Newark, NJ, were captured on surveillance video stealing nearly $94,000 worth of handbags from the Balenciaga luxury retail store in East Hampton, along with a yet-to-be-identified woman, Tierney said.

The video showed that at about 1:30 p.m., the female, who remains at-large, entered Balenciaga wearing a pink ski-type mask over her face and sunglasses, Tierney said. The woman appeared to be on her cell phone as she walked around the store and looked at various handbags; after a short time, she asked a store employee to check if they had a shoe in a particular size, the DA said.

According to court documents, when the employee attempted to retrieve the shoes for their female accomplice, Rodgers, Harris, Davis, and Johns rushed into the store and hurriedly began taking luxury handbags from the shelves. After taking several bags each, all five individuals ran out of the store, got into a Dodge Durango and fled, Tierney said.

Responding officers from the East Hampton Village Police Department located the fleeing Durango and began a pursuit, the DA said. Shortly afterward, a New York State Trooper saw the Durango and followed the vehicle as it left Sunrise Highway at Exit 62 and headed north on Route 111, Tierney said.

That pursuit had to be terminated due to safety concerns, as the Durango was traveling at speeds of more than 100 miles per hour and was observed veering into oncoming traffic lanes, Tierney said. The trooper then saw the Durango heading westbound on the Long Island Expressway with smoke coming out of the rear of the vehicle, the DA said.

He followed the vehicle from a safe distance and saw it exit the LIE at Exit 69, Tierney said. The trooper then observed the five exit the Durango, with three of them running toward a wooded area just north of their location and two remaining near the vehicle, Tierney said.

An ensuing search of the area led to the arrests of Johns, Rogers, Harris, and Davis, as well as the recovery of 34 of the stolen handbags; an investigation to locate the unidentified female is ongoing, Tierney said.

Johns was sentenced before the Honorable Anthony Senft. He was represented by Steve Fondulis, who did not immediately return a request for comment.

Davis pleaded guilty in August to second-degree grand larceny, second-degree criminal possession of stolen property, and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, TIerney said. He is scheduled to be sentenced on December 19 before the Honorable Anthony Senft.

Harris also pleaded guilty to the same charges on October 20 and is scheduled for sentencing of 3 to 9 years of imprisonment on December 7, Tierney said.

In addition, Rodgers pleaded guilty to the same charges on October 17 and was sentenced to 3 to 9 years of incarceration, Tierney said.

“As of today, all four of the defendants that we apprehended for this crime have pleaded guilty, and they will serve significant prison sentences for stealing items that do not belong to them,” Tierney said. “Crimes like this diminish the quality of life for our residents and business owners and will not be tolerated. I can’t stress enough that if you commit crimes like this in Suffolk County, we will prosecute you, and we will seek to send you to prison.”