You can’t call this guy the artful dodger.
A thief, who snatched two ornate candlesticks worth $52,000 at a world-renowned Upper East Side art show, was nabbed before he could escape, authorities said yesterday.
Khoi Nguyen, 44, clad in sweat pants, paid the $20 admission fee to get into the “high-end, sophisticated” International Fine Art and Antique Dealers Show in the Park Avenue Armory last week, said Ty Torio, owner of Citadel Security Agency, which was working the event.
But Nguyen immediately drew the attention of security officers, Torio said.
In fact, Torio said he and another guard watched Nguyen swipe the 18-inch gilt art pieces emblazoned with Greek goddesses, then stuff them into a backpack.
“We approach him and he runs. [The candlesticks] fall out of his bag onto the floor, and he’s tackled and restrained in the booth of [art dealer] James Robinson,” Torio said.
The 18th annual antiques exhibition presented high-end art and antiques of 65 dealers from three continents.
The opening night celebration, which raised $1 million in charity for Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, was attended by such celebs as Donald Trump, Lydia and Anne Hearst, Steven Spielberg, Martha Stewart and Howard Stern.
About four hours before the alleged antique theft, Nguyen’s ex-live-in girlfriend received an alarming letter from him at her East 72nd Street apartment.
Authorities did not release the contents of the missive but said Nguyen violated an order of protection.
Nguyen was charged with grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, aggravated harassment and criminal contempt, a spokeswoman for the Manhattan DA’s Office said.
At his court hearing yesterday, a judge ordered him held on $12,502 bail and continued the order of protection originating in California.
Nguyen, who freelanced for The Post in the early 1990s, has had numerous run-ins with the law, dating back to March 2003.
At that time, he was charged with tossing a metal stand and tip jar at a woman working at a snack counter near Times Square.
Later that same year, he was charged with slashing several paintings in the lobby of the Chelsea Hotel on West 23rd Street and attempted arson.
Authorities, who estimated he caused more than $30,000 in damage, said they took him to the psych ward at Bellevue Hospital for observation.