What a ham!
This crowbar-toting crook strolled into a Manhattan building that houses both a theater and a court, “looked right up at the camera,” and audaciously stole pistol magazines containing ammunition from court officers’ lockers, authorities said.
Adding insult to injury, the burglar – seen in this surveillance photo – smashed a TV and computer in the officers’ lounge.
And the crime took place right next to the Midtown North police station house.
“Whoever he was, he was very brazen about it,” said a manager at the American Theater of Actors, which shares the city-owned building at 314 W. 54th St. with the Midtown Community Court.
The heist occurred sometime after the end of Saturday night’s performance of Eugene O’Neill’s “Beyond the Horizon” at the off-Broadway theater.
The court handles cases involving relatively minor offenses such as prostitution, vandalism and fare-beating.
During the week, court officers screen anyone who goes into the building.
“On weeknight shows, we have to be patted down and our bags put through metal detectors,” said actor Ricky Lewis, 24.
But on weekends, people entering the building do not undergo screening.
A theater manager, who requested anonymity, said he was working late when he went downstairs and saw cops, who arrived at about 1:05 a.m. after the intruder tripped an alarm.
Cops later showed the manager the surveillance video, which captured the slightly built crook walking in from the street, wearing a white baseball hat, a white T-shirt, a black jacket and jeans, according to the manager.
“He actually looked right up at the camera,” the manager said.
The crook used a crowbar to pry open a door at the end of the first-floor hallway that leads down to the basement, the manager said.
The thief also broke into the court officers’ lounge, where he swiped ammunition magazines, sources said.
The New York State Court Officers’ Association yesterday said the crime underscores the problem of the court sharing space with the theater.
“It’s a breach of security,” said COA President Dennis Quirk, adding that in the past decade his union repeatedly has asked the city to move the theater out.