BOZEMAN — A group knowns as the "Felony Lane Gang" is known for breaking into cars, stealing checks, and identification, and draining people's bank accounts.
Bozeman Police Captain Dana McNeill says the gang of thieves originated in Florida, but now, they are right here in Montana.
“We have ongoing issues in the community with this gang,” said McNeil.
The Felony Lane Gang targets individuals across the country, stealing from vehicles, committing identity theft, fraud, and forgeries. Members of the gang will reportedly steal mail and identification information and use victims’ IDs and credit cards to commit more crimes.
Once items are stolen, the Felony Lane Gang finds a third party to actually go to the banks and cash the checks.
As for the origin of the name:
The "Felony Lane Gang" is a group of thieves based in Fort Lauderdale that travels across the United States stealing identities and checkbooks from unattended cars ("smash and grabs"). With the stolen checkbooks and driver’s licenses, the gang cashes checks using the drive through lane of banks. The lane farthest from video cameras and tellers has been dubbed the "felony lane" because of the ease with which false identities can be used to cash checks.
The most recent suspected third party is Ryan Lane of Bozeman.
Lane was arrested on September 6, 2022 after police say he cashed thousands of dollars with stolen checks at area banks. He is charged with two counts of theft and appeared before a judge on Wednesday.
The investigation as to how Lane got his hands on the checks is continuing.
McNeil advises people not to leave any form of identification in your car.
"These thefts can happen anywhere,” said McNeil. “We see them often at trail heads because that's when people leave all their stuff in their car when they go for a hike.”
Law enforcement encourages anyone who suspects their vehicle may have been unlawfully entered, even if no theft occurred, to contact the Bozeman police department or Gallatin County Sheriff’s office.
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