"Steal Men" & "Stealers"

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

"Steal men" and "stealers"? Are these terms used locally? What about
"thieves"?
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(GOOGLE NEWS)
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_Operation Biker Boyz Breaks Up Alleged Theft  Ring_
(http://www.nysun.com/article/32177)
New York  Sun, NY -  <NOBR>13 ho
... "The Biker Boyz were nothing if not brazen," Police  Commissioner Raymond
Kelly said. ... The "stealers" would get  about $2,500 for each bike they
stole. ...
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4 May 2006, METRO NY, "NYPD busts 'Biker Boyz,'" pg.  2:
Lengel, who also worked at a scaffolding company in Long Island  City, paid
17 alleged "steal men" about $2,500 for each motorcycle--and then  resold them
for as much as $16,000, Kelly  said.

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