Three men have been sentenced to prison over a conspiracy to steal hundreds of airbags across Northern Virginia.
Alexandria resident Adisorn Damrongchai and Chinese national Yuchen Zhang were found guilty of nabbing airbags in Virginia and selling them to a third conspirator, Severn, Md., resident Keith William Smith, beginning in August 2022.
Smith, 45, paid the two conspirators a total of over $84,000 for the stolen parts, which he sold, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia said in a press release yesterday (Wednesday).
Zhang, 28, and Damrongchai, 47, were originally arrested in Arlington in November 2022 and found to be in possession of six stolen airbags along with window punches, screwdrivers, pliers and a handheld flashlight.
They were later released and, according to federal prosecutors, returned to their old habits — resulting in their arrests again in 2024.
“Smith paid Damrongchai a total of $47,170 and Zhang a total of $37,220 for stolen airbags,” the press release says. “Together, the three men were responsible for hundreds of stolen airbags across northern Virginia.”
All three men pleaded guilty to different charges. Zhang, who previously served seven months behind bars for his involvement in a $1.1 million fraud scheme involving gift cards, was sentenced to three years and two months in prison last March.
Smith was sentenced to six months in prison last May, and Damrongchai was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison in December.
The three conspirators are by no means the only airbag thieves in the area. While 2022, the year that Damrongchai and Zhang were first arrested, was a particularly bad year for airbag thefts, Hondas in particular have remained a popular target in recent years.
A series of airbag thefts were reported near Pentagon City in 2024 and in Crystal City last October.
More on the sentencing, below, from a U.S. Dept. of Justice press release.
According to court documents, in August 2022, Chinese national Yuchen Zhang, aka Wu Jia, 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.
