Theft from auto reports drop in the 39th District after a pair of arrests

The Philadelphia Police Department have publicly identified two criminals believed to be behind numerous theft from auto reports in the city’s East Falls neighborhood.

Captain Verdell Johnson, commanding officer of the 39th Police District, said Tuesday that David Sanders and Karl Larue, both of Germantown, were arrested in June.

Sanders, 56, was arrested on June 15. He was subsequently arraigned on counts of theft from a motor vehicle, possession of stolen property, and criminal mischief.

Sanders is currently in custody at Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility and is scheduled to go to trial on Aug. 20, according to court documents.

Karl Larue, 51, was arrested on June 13 on a count of possession of a controlled substance.

According to court records, Larue also remains in custody and is awaiting sentencing on the drug charge as well as on counts stemming from an April arrest in connection other theft from vehicle charges.

With Sanders and Larue sitting in jail, Johnson said there’s been a noticeable decrease in theft from auto incidents in his district.

“With the arrest of these two, theft from auto has dropped dramatically,” he said. “It’s amazing what these two guys were up to.”

Between June 15 and August 15, police reported 47 theft from auto incidents in the district’s Police Service Area 1, which includes East Falls and sections of Germantown and North Philadelphia. The figure represents a 66-percent decrease over the preceding three months, said Johnson.

From March 15 to June 15 – the date of Sanders’ arrest – there were 140 thefts from auto in PSA 1.