Man uses eBay to fence stolen electronics gear

MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) -- A would-be customer, shopping on eBay for a new GPS for his car, found one that fit the bill a little too perfectly: It's the one that was stolen from him,

Danial Rangkar, 25, of Great Neck, was awaiting arraignment Monday on a charge of criminal possession of stolen property after allegedly trying to sell not only the victim's stolen GPS device, but dozens of other electronic items including laptop computers, digital cameras, iPods, cellphones and other hand-held communications devices.

The victim, who was not identified, said his particular GPS had a unique power cord and when he found it being offered for sale on the Internet about 10 days after it was stolen, he checked the serial number and it matched the one he had owned, police said Monday.

"Unbelievable as it seems, he was in the bidding to buy his own stolen GPS,'' Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said.

The police investigation led to Rangkar, who owns a "second hand'' store in the borough of Queens. A search of his home and business uncovered several dozen items that police suspect had been stolen out of automobiles in the New York metropolitan area.

Police and prosecutors were hesitant to provide details of how they determined all the devices had been stolen, but at least two of the laptops were stamped "Property of St. John's University.'' Detective Ray Cote noted that the GPS devices specifically had the addresses of the legitimate owners programmed in and police were now contacting those victims to eventually return the items.