Two NYC men indicted in Suffolk County jet ski theft ring
Two Brooklyn and Howard Beach men were indicted in Suffolk for stealing four jet skis and a boat from Lindenhurst to East Islip. Prosecutors say the thefts followed a five-incident spree.
Suffolk County prosecutors have tied two New York City men to a run of waterfront thefts that stretched from Lindenhurst to East Islip, alleging they stole four jet skis and a boat from homes, a backyard, a driveway and a Bay Shore business over six weeks in late 2024.
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced the indictment on March 2, 2026 against Willis Estrella Genao, 28, of Brooklyn, and Carlos Torres Rodriguez, 27, of Howard Beach. Prosecutors said the pair carried out five thefts between Oct. 30 and Dec. 10, 2024, taking watercraft and trailers that were parked where owners often leave them for the season, close to docks, driveways and bayside properties.
The incidents prosecutors laid out formed a clear pattern. On Oct. 30, 2024, a 2020 Yamaha GP1800R SVHO and trailer were stolen from a Lindenhurst driveway. On Nov. 26, 2024, thieves took a 2022 Yamaha SHO, a 2018 Yamaha FX Cruiser and a trailer from an Oakdale backyard. Three days later, on Nov. 30, a 2021 Yamaha GP1800R and trailer disappeared from a West Islip side yard. On Dec. 3, a 2025 Yamaha boat and trailer were taken from the parking lot of Spencer Leasing in Bay Shore, a commercial site. The final theft prosecutors listed was a 2019 Sea-Doo GTX Limited and trailer stolen from an East Islip driveway on Dec. 10, 2024.
Nassau County police arrested Genao and Rodriguez on Jan. 16, 2025 in connection with similar watercraft thefts, and investigators later linked those arrests to the Suffolk cases. That cross-county connection helped turn separate losses into one larger case, with prosecutors describing the thefts as repeated overnight larcenies that targeted high-value equipment that could be hooked up and moved quickly.
Genao was arraigned on Feb. 11, 2026 on one count of grand larceny in the second degree, a Class C felony, and five counts of grand larceny in the third degree, Class D felonies. Rodriguez was arraigned on March 2, 2026 on one count of third-degree grand larceny, a Class D felony. Suffolk County Acting Supreme Court Justice Steven A. Pilewski released both men on their own recognizance because the charges are non-bail-eligible under current New York law. Genao faces up to 5 to 15 years in prison if convicted of the top count.
For Suffolk boat and jet ski owners, the case is a warning about how exposed watercraft can be when they are left in driveways, backyards, side yards or even commercial lots. The thefts from Lindenhurst, Oakdale, West Islip, Bay Shore and East Islip show how quickly a trailerable machine can disappear once it is unhitched and rolled away, leaving shoreline communities to absorb the cost and the disruption long after the thieves are gone.
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