Interesting piece on Bentley...
https://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/14/nyregion/3-arrests-hit-burglary-ring-in-manhattan.html3 Arrests Hit Burglary Ring In Manhattan
By RICHARD PEREZ-PENA
A burglary ring that victimized more than 1,000 businesses in Manhattan in the last three years has been broken up and three of its members arrested, law-enforcement officials said yesterday.
The three men admitted that the ring had committed about a burglary a day at shops and restaurants, fast-food restaurants in particular, the officials said. About 400 businesses in midtown and lower Manhattan were burglarized this year, the officials said.
"There were times when they would do three or four in an evening," said Michael G. Cherkasky, chief of the Investigations Division of the District Attorney's Office.
If the figures are accurate, the group carried out more than 3 percent of the commercial burglaries committed since the beginning of 1990 in the borough, where about 10,000 such crimes take place each year, according to the police. "I think this will have a significant impact on commercial burglaries in Manhattan," said Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly. Safes With Plenty of Cash
Choosing businesses that kept large amounts of cash in safes, the group made off with sums ranging from "a couple of thousand to $50,000 to $75,000," Mr. Cherkasky said. Officials could not provide an estimate of the total amount the burglars stole.
It was not clear why law-enforcement officials were certain that they had broken the ring. District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau predicted that more arrests would be made soon, though he would not say how many and gave no hint as to the size of the ring.
The arrests came after a two-month investigation by the District Attorney's Office Detective Squad, which had put the ring under surveillance, videotaped the accused burglars breaking into the J & S Electronics store at 660 Lexington Avenue, near 57th Street, at 3 A.M. yesterday. Before they could crack its safe, the three men tripped an alarm, fled the store and were arrested by the detectives, Mr. Morgenthau said.
Mr. Morgenthau said that his office, which conducted the investigation, began developing the case two months ago, after his detectives became aware of similarities among many burglaries.
Despite the number of burglaries, the ring planned each one carefully, observing employee routines and security measures before moving in on a target, Mr. Morgenthau said. Typically, the intruders would use sledgehammers and bolt cutters to enter a business, often by knocking out a section of wall. The burglars would use electric saws with blades designed for cutting through metal to open the safe, or, when possible, would take the safe with them.
Several businesses were hit more than once, including Forbidden Planet, at 821 Broadway, near 13th Street, a shop that was victimized seven times. A partial list of the businesses, provided by the District Attorney's Office, shows that the group was especially fond of fast-food restaurants, striking several McDonald's franchises, a Burger King, a Roy Rogers, a Pizza Hut and a Dunkin Donuts. Member of the Westies
One of those arrested, Brian Bentley, 26 years old, was identified by Mr. Morgenthau as the leader of the group and a member of the Westies, a notoriously violent gang that terrorized the Hell's Kitchen section of Manhattan until the mid-1980's. Also apprehended were Brian Gonzalez, 18, and Carlos Diaz, 19.
Law-enforcement officials and former members of the gang have said that from the mid-1970's to the mid-1980's, the Westies, a predominantly Irish-American gang, acted as enforcers for the Gambino crime family, a role that included carrying out several murders. Law-enforcement officials have said little about the gang since 1988, when seven of its members, including its leaders, were convicted of various crimes under Federal racketeering statutes and given prison terms of up to 75 years.
When asked how much still remained of the gang, Mr. Cherkasky said: "Too much." Even if all members of the burglary ring are sent to prison, he said, "it's not the end" of the gang.
The three men in custody have been charged only with the burglaries at J & S yesterday and a break-in last week at Woolko Food Company, at 26-40 Gansevoort Street, that netted $11,000 from a store safe. Additional charges will be filed against them, officials said.
At the time of his arrest, Mr. Bentley was free on bail, awaiting trial for attempted murder in a shooting that occurred last May, and for a robbery a month later. If convicted of the burglaries, Mr. Bentley, who has previous felony convictions for possession of stolen property and attempted burglary, could be deemed a persistent felony offender and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
Mr. Diaz was sentenced six weeks ago to five years' probation, after being convicted of a felony drug sale. Mr. Gonzalez's criminal record consists of a single instance of drug possession when he was a minor. Both men face up to 14 years in prison for the string of burglaries.
