Brothers arrested in car theft ring

Two brothers who stole and stripped over 80 cars from nearly every area of Philadelphia were arrested Tuesday morning following a roughly five-month police investigation, the Major Crimes Unit announced.

Alexander Ramos, 36, and his brother Eduardo, 30, each face 71 counts of auto theft, criminal mischief and conspiracy charges, among others, said Capt. Leonard Ditchkofsky, commanding officer of the Major Crimes Unit.

The men specifically targeted Hondas and stole them from nearly every neighborhood except Southwest Philadelphia, police said.

After stealing the cars, they would strip them of their catalytic converters, batteries and radios before abandoning them in the southern section of Frankford, Ditchkofsky said.

Hondas are known for being relatively easy to steal, and the Ramos brothers stole four of them Monday night, police said.

"We did recover 83 vehicles in this investigation," Ditchkofsky said, adding that certain Honda models are targeted by car thieves because their catalytic converters are made of platinum.

"They're commanding a pretty big price right now," Ditchkofsky said.

A surveillance camera mounted in an area where multiple cars were stolen recorded footage of the two that police used in their investigation.

The men were arrested on Creston Street near Castor Avenue in Oxford Circle, police said.

When cops arrived Tuesday morning, they found car doors and materials from other vehicles on the scene, and Ditchkofsky said the brothers are likely behind additional auto thefts.

Some of the cars were still intact when police found them, and contained their owners' personal items.

"We got a whole room of stuff here," Ditchkofsky said, adding that police will sort through the materials to try returning them to their rightful owners.