Romanian jewelry bandits use sweet talk, hug to steal $2k necklace from LI senior citizen

Read the original at New York Post ↗
New York Post · collected 2026-10-07 · by Brandon Cruz

Quick Summary

Two Romanian jewelry thieves, Mirabela Lacatusu and Rudi Lacatusu, stole a $2,000 gold necklace from a 73-year-old woman in Valley Stream, Long Island, by using deception and physical contact. The duo approached the elderly woman claiming to need directions, then hugged her while secretly stealing her necklace. Police later linked them to similar incidents across Nassau County. Both suspects were charged with three counts of grand larceny and are set to appear in court on October 20.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-07, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Mirabela Lacatusu, 26, and Rudi Lacatusu, 28, from Ontario, Canada, stole a $2,000 gold necklace from a 73-year-old woman in Valley Stream, Long Island. On Monday afternoon, they approached the elderly resident outside her home, asking for directions to BJ’s Wholesale Club in a gold-colored Mitsubishi. Mirabela then hugged the woman and gave her two fake-gold necklaces while secretly taking the real one. The theft was part of a pattern; Nassau County police linked them to similar crimes across the county and suspect more victims exist. Both Lacatusus were charged with three counts of grand larceny related to these incidents.

Written for “Jewelry Heist Sweet TalkScheme” on 2026-10-07, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
6
claim-shaped sentences
Uncertain
33%
2 of 6 hedged
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Correction & hedging signals
65.8
corrections and hedging in what we collected; not a measure of accuracy
Outlets on this story
1
Crime & Law
Narrative spread
1
articles carrying this framing
Analyzed 2026-10-07 · how these are computed

Story

📰 Jewelry Heist Sweet TalkScheme
Crime & Law · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Compared with similar articles

Nothing to compare against. No article is close enough to this one for the pipeline to have linked or judged the pair.

Publisher

New York Post · 7844 article(s) · 24 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 24 correction(s)
2026-10-07
Former corrections officer allegedly killed his wife — and forced his kids to help
2026-10-04
Ex-US Attorney will lead independent review of Christa Pike botched execution
2026-10-03
Tennessee prison chief resigns after Christa Pike’s botched execution
2026-10-03
Inmates getting paper straws in Canadian prisons for ‘safer snorting’ of drugs
2026-10-02
Gypsy Rose Blanchard and Ken Urker’s relationship timeline: From prison proposal to his untimely death
2026-10-01
‘Triple-G’ weight loss drug update: Even on the lowest dose, trial patients lost 12.7% of their weight
2026-10-01
Christa Pike likely has ‘brain injury’ after botched execution — here’s what went wrong: ‘Degraded’ drugs, damaged veins
2026-09-29
Tennessee’s first female death row inmate in 200 years snubs her last meal ahead of Wednesday execution
2026-09-27
Trump asked China’s Xi Jinping if he’d ‘like to buy’ American weapons, US ambassador reveals
2026-09-27
Police give update on Hayden Panettiere’s death investigation after overdose ruling
2026-09-26
NYC’s embattled jail system saw startling 76% spike in inmate assaults and fights
2026-09-24
‘Pioneer Woman’ Ree Drummond’s son Jamar detained for biting cop months before assault arrest
2026-09-22
GOP’s Bruce Blakeman promises to ease solitary confinement limits as he picks up correction union nod
2026-09-19
‘Landman’ Season 3 Release Date Update: When Does The Next Season of ‘Landman’ Come Out?
2026-09-19
Nick Reiner hasn’t received ‘even $5’ from $1.6M family trust, lawyers claim
2026-09-18
UCLA chancellor pressured to retract rebuke over event with 9/11 ‘mastermind’ lawyer
2026-09-18
Bo Bichette’s willingness to change positions could reshape Mets’ infield
2026-09-18
Mamdani mourns NYC thief accused of murdering man with special needs
2026-09-18
Alabama killer’s last words before he’s executed for 1998 pawnshop double murder revealed
2026-09-18
Shock poll shows another huge swing in California governor’s race
2026-09-15
Fast food chains are making a major shift in customer service amid complaints of a ‘lonely and disconnected’ store experience
2026-09-15
Are Cocoa Puffs Maria Sten’s Favorite Cereal? The ‘Reacher’ and ‘Neagley’ Star Sets The Record Straight: “I Have to Make Clarifications”
2026-09-06
Long Island inmates in jail on drug charges use photo program to get clean
2026-09-06
‘Landman’ Season 3 Release Date Update: When Does ‘Landman’ Return With New Episodes?

Who wrote this

Brandon Cruz
24 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 “Threatening to kill a public official or his family is not politics — it is a criminal act, and we will take it seriously and hold those responsible accountable just as we did in this case,” Long added.
🔮 After a short investigation, detectives tracked the thievery back to the duo, who both live in Ontario, Canada, and linked them to similar hug-and-run heists throughout Nassau County, but think there may possibly be more victims, cops said.
🔮 Suffolk County Police Officer Kevin Martinez told The Post he was on patrol at around 8 p.m. Thursday when he spotted a group of teens playing “the beautiful game” at SSG James D. McNaughton Memorial Park in Centereach and couldn’t resist the competitive urge to jump in and lay down the law.
🔮 That increase is a staggering 140% jump in the controversial tech’s reach around Suffolk’s roads through its police since just last fall — and county officials already revealed to The Post that an additional deal for even more cameras may be on the horizon.
🔮 The embattled mayor of Mount Vernon whose handpicked deputy police commissioner was recently charged with attempted murder also broke federal election law, according to the US Office of Special Counsel.
🔮 County officials, alongside numerous Italian-American organizations and activists, announced their plans to build the new museum on Thursday, which they said will not only feature the history of how Long Island came to be what it is today, but the contributions of the Italian-Americans who helped forge the region.
🔮 Van, born William Webster Van de Grift in 1870, was a star of vaudeville and Broadway before he built the Equity Motion Picture Company on the shores of Lake Sunapee in New Hampshire, which many historians believe was northern New England’s first movie studio.
🔮 Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman recently told The Post that he believes Flock “is an important tool in law enforcement,” but said he would “never allow that tool to be used in an improper way.”
🔮 Mason, still in his Batman costume, scaled the wall, retrieved the bag and returned it to the woman it belonged to, who appeared ecstatic and grateful, according to a video of the heroics captured on a TikTok video uploaded to Mason’s account. “I just hope more people will be inspired to do the same if they see someone being mugged or feeling uncomfortable on a night out,” said the hero.
🔮 “I will NEVER buy a wooden flag from a person that looks like you,” one post depicting a fake vet claimed he was told before advertising the cheap products.
Also by Brandon Cruz
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 24 articles by Brandon Cruz →

Topics

Long Island Mitsubishi Nassau County Romanian Valley Stream

Subjects

Mirabela PERSON · 3× Nassau County GPE · 2× Romanian NORP · 2× BJ’s Wholesale Club ORG · 1× Canada GPE · 1× Long Island GPE · 1× Mirabela Lacatusu PERSON · 1× Ontario GPE · 1× Rudi Lacatusu PERSON · 1× Valley Stream GPE · 1×

Narrative

The brazen bandits, Mirabela Lacatusu, 26, and Rudi Lacatusu, 28, rolled up to the overly-trusting elderly woman outside of her Valley Stream home in a gold Mitsubishi on Monday afternoon, Nassau County police said.
framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-07
🔮 After a short investigation, detectives tracked the thievery back to the duo, who both live in Ontario, Canada, and linked them to similar hug-and-run heists throughout Nassau County, but think there may possibly be more victims, cops said.

Claims (6 extracted, 2 hedged)

Two Romanian jewelry thieves used sweet talk and a warm hug to steal a 73-year-old Long Island senior citizen’s $2,000 gold necklace from around her neck, cops said. asserted
cops → use → neck
The brazen bandits, Mirabela Lacatusu, 26, and Rudi Lacatusu, 28, rolled up to the overly-trusting elderly woman outside of her Valley Stream home in a gold Mitsubishi on Monday afternoon, Nassau County police said. asserted
police → roll → afternoon
Mirabela, who was riding shotgun, rolled down her window and asked the senior for directions to BJ’s Wholesale Club, cops said. asserted
cops → rid → Club
After the Good Samaritan pointed the pair in the right direction, Mirabela bizarrely asked to give the woman a hug and gift her two fake-gold necklaces, according to police. But during the fake-love-filled hug and faux-necklace gifting — Mirabela secretly snatched the elderly woman’s $2,000 gold necklace without her noticing until long after the pair took off, cops said. uncertain
cops → point → necklace
After a short investigation, detectives tracked the thievery back to the duo, who both live in Ontario, Canada, and linked them to similar hug-and-run heists throughout Nassau County, but think there may possibly be more victims, cops said. uncertain
cops → track → County
The Lacatusus were each charged with three counts of grand larceny and released on desk appearance tickets. asserted
Lacatusus → charge → tickets
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support