Story by Ethan
On July 30th, 2026, the arrests of Maria Betances and Leslie Cruz, ages 47 and 24, was announced by Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz. Maria Betances and Leslie Cruz were charged with second-degree Criminal Possession of Stolen Property, second-degree Attempted Criminal Possession of Stolen Property, third-degree Grand Larceny, and fourth-degree Conspiracy. Maria Betances also faces an additional charge of Endangering the Welfare of a Child. The arrest and charges against Maria Betances and Leslie Cruz were a result of an investigation handled by the District Attorney’s Detectives Bureau assigned to the Crime Strategies and Intelligence Bureau under the supervision of Lieutenant Joseph Oliver, Sergeant David Moore, and under the overall supervision of Chief Investigator Robert LaPollo; as well as members of the New York State Police Special Investigations Unit under the supervision of Senior Investigator Mark Buglione, and under the overall supervision of Lieutenant Matthew J. O’Connell and Major James M. Browne.
According to the Queens District Attorney’s Office, the two defendants directed four other unidentified individuals, known as their “booster crew”, steal large quantities of good from various retail stores such as Marshalls, TJ Maxx, Home Goods, CVS, and Ultra Beauty throughout locations in Queens, Staten Island, Nassau County, Westchester County, and Rockland County. The booster crew would target high value items that were also easy to resell swiftly, which they would pawn off to Maria Betances at her home and to Leslie Cruz at or near her apartment in Queens, New York. From February 10th, 2026, until July 16th, 2026, undercover officers successfully completed 10 sales of stolen goods to the defendants. Maria Betances and Leslie Cruz paid anywhere from 17% to 37% of the retail value from each sale made. Maria Betances told the undercover officers during their first sale that she had interest in buying higher-end beauty products from name brands such as Dior, Gucci, Prada, Chanel, and others. It’s alleged from this conversation that she also claimed to have had 2,000 pairs of women’s skinny jeans from American Eagle.
On April 14th, 2026, a blue shipping drum was flagged by US Customs and Border Patrol and put on hold at the shipper’s facility. The contents of the barrel were searched due to a court-authorized search warrant. Inside the shipping drum were 760 beauty items with a combined total retail value worth $22,419 that were allegedly stolen by the defendants’ booster crew or the undercover officers. Another court-authorized search warrant was executed at Maria Betances’ residence on July 21st, 2026. A total of 4,272 pieces of allegedly stolen merchandise were recovered that had a combined total retail value of $131,144 that included items such as cosmetics, sex toys, pajamas, clothing items, and hundreds of broken security devices and alarms. An additional $10,000 was also recovered from Maria Betances’ home. A court-authorized search warrant was also executed at Leslie Cruz’ home that resulted in the seizure of 101 pieces of allegedly stolen merchandise with a combined total retail value of $6,067. An additional $20,000 was also recovered from Leslie Cruz’ residence.
The Queens District Attorney’s Office stated that the charges against Maria Betances and Leslie Cruz are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
