1.   Agents took the vehicle identification number from the axle and within hours traced the truck to the Ryder rental firm.

2.   Car manufacturers stamp a vehicle identification number at several places on new cars to help track down stolen vehicles.

3.   Windows are etched with the vehicle identification number.

4.   An area next to the garage was reserved for altering vehicle identification numbers, he said.

5.   Because it is made of parts from different sources, it has no vehicle identification number assigned until it is registered for the first time.

6.   According to a summary of the indictments, the stolen cars would typically be retagged with a vehicle identification number, or VIN, taken from junked vehicles.

7.   According to the indictments, the thieves would replace the vehicle identification number, or VIN, on the stolen cars with a number taken from a junked car.

8.   But the first break, according to investigators, came with the finding of the vehicle identification number.

9.   Drumm hops out, hovers over the windshield of the pickup, looking for the vehicle identification number.

10.   Jeffers was grinding the vehicle identification number off a stolen vehicle when a spark ignited the illegally built Brooklyn garage, law enforcement sources said.