NLR police: 2 broke into vehicles, are part of Florida fraud ring

Everol Blake, left, and Cinel Geffrard, right.
Everol Blake, left, and Cinel Geffrard, right.

North Little Rock police have arrested two men who they say broke into vehicles at an outdoor water park before leading officers in a car chase.

A witness spotted the two men Monday afternoon at Wild River Country, at 6820 Crystal Hill Road, and dialed 911, the North Little Rock Police Department said in a statement. Shortly before 3 p.m., officers were involved in a brief chase with a 2012 Ford Escape that ended when the suspects’ car hit a pole on the Veterans Administration property at 2200 Fort Roots Drive, police said.

Everol Blake, 30, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Cinel Geffrard, 30, of Lauderdale Lakes, Fla., face charges including fleeing, possessing instruments of crime, and breaking or entering, according to the Pulaski County sheriff’s office website. North Little Rock police said the two are part of the Felony Lane Gang, which the FBI says is “a group of thieves based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, that travels across the United States stealing identities and checkbooks from unattended cars” during “smash-and-grab” robberies.

“With the stolen checkbooks and driver’s licenses, the gang cashes checks using the drive through lane of banks,” the FBI said in a May statement describing a Felony Lane Gang case in Pennsylvania. “The farthest lane from video cameras and tellers have been dubbed the 'felony lane' because of the ease with which false identities can be used to cash checks.”

Geffrard initially gave detectives a false name but was quickly identified through a facial-recognition program used by the Polk County sheriff’s office in Florida, North Little Rock police said.

The men are being held at the Pulaski County jail with no bail set.

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Pulaski County sheriff's office

Cinel Geffrard.

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Pulaski County sheriff's office

Everol Blake.

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