Washington area airbag thieves sentenced to prison

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Three men have been sentenced to prison for their roles in a conspiracy to engage in interstate transportation and sale of stolen goods involving an airbag theft ring in the metro Washington area.

According to court documents, in August 2022, Chinese national Yuchen Zhang, 28, and Adisorn Damrongchai, 47, of Alexandria, began stealing airbags from vehicles in Virginia and transporting them to Maryland to sell them to Keith William Smith, 45, of Severn, Maryland, who sold used car parts, including stolen airbags.

On November 13, 2022, Zhang and Damrongchai were arrested in Arlington County just after they had stolen several airbags. Zhang and Damrongchai were in possession of window punches, screwdrivers, pliers, and a hand-held flashlight as well as six stolen airbags.

After their arrest, Zhang and Damrongchai resumed stealing airbags and selling them to Smith. On Sept. 20, 2024, Zhang drove to Silver Spring, Maryland, stole an airbag, and returned to Virginia with it. On Oct. 4, 2024, Zhang picked up Damrongchai from his residence and traveled to neighborhoods in Fairfax and Herndon where they stole airbags from multiple vehicles. Later that day, law enforcement searched Zhang’s residence and vehicles and Damrongchai’s residence and recovered 14 airbags, some of which had been stolen earlier that morning.

Smith paid Damrongchai a total of $47,170 and Zhang a total of $37,220 for stolen airbags.  Together, the three men were responsible for hundreds of stolen airbags across northern Virginia.

Zhang pled guilty in Arlington to grand larceny and destruction of property valued in excess of $1,000. On Dec. 18, 2024, he pled guilty in the Eastern District of Virginia to conspiracy to engage in interstate transportation of stolen property and was sentenced on March 7, 2025, to three years and two months in prison. In 2020, Zhang was convicted in the Eastern District of Virginia of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for his role in a $1.1 million fraud scheme involving gift cards. For that conviction, Zhang was sentenced to seven months in prison.

Smith pled guilty on March 10, 2025, and was sentenced on May 28, 2025, to six months in prison.

On February 21, 2025, Damrongchai was convicted in Arlington of tampering with a vehicle, destruction of property, two counts of destruction of property greater than $1000, sale of stolen property greater than $1,000, and possession of burglarious tools. Damrongchai pled guilty in the Eastern District of Virginia on Dec. 3, 2025, to conspiracy to engage in interstate transportation and sale of stolen goods.  Damrongchai was sentenced to a total of two years and nine months in prison.

The FBI Washington Field Office, Alexandria Police Department, and Fairfax County Police Department investigated this case with valuable assistance from the Arlington County Police Department, Howard County Police Department, and Manassas City Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine E. Rumbaugh and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Lyndi McVey prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case Nos. 1:24-CR-261 (Zhang), 1:25-CR-58 (Smith), and 1:25-cr-199 (Damrongchai).