A uniformed doorman cheerily welcomed both boys into the lobby, where they informed reception that they were there for Mr. Walter Beckmans appointment with Thomas Leckey, Christies rare-book specialist. The phone number was registered to a Gary Reinhard of Lexington, Kentucky. Late one Thursday afternoon in mid-February, the two friends bought a bag of weed and drove the 700 miles to Manhattan in Spencer's Acura Legend. The actor thanked his fans for all their kind words. Spencer believed it was an insurmountable problem. Before, in college, growing up, we were being funneled into this mundane, nickel-and-dime existence. I'm not sure, but it was a lot. Mr. Beckman now wanted these books appraised. By far the most common theory was that the heist had been just a frat prank that spun way out of control. Each has a different style of facial hairmuttonchops (Lipka), a Fu Manchu (Borsuk), a Tom Selleck (Reinhard)which Lipka informs me they had carefully trimmed for my visit. Us three, we were much thicker than he was.) And what Chas likely didnt know was that, for Warren, Eric, and Spencer, the actual appraisal and sale of the stolen books had become irrelevant to the mission. The banality of assessments, passing courses for the sake of progression and limited intellectual stimulation meant that Spencers time at university was far removed from his hoped for experience. It was the sense of redemption that I hadn't anticipated. Leave a message. A Google search of Spencer Reinhard brought up numerous hits for soccer in the Lexington area. [Beckman] said, B.J., a nickname her friends and colleagues used for her, she told officers. By five P.M., Warrenas Beckmanwas back on the phone with Gooch explaining that he had missed his appointment because he had been out of town on business. Quote tagged! After a brief discussion they chose Chas Allen, a handsome, clean-cut U.K. business major who had started the lawn-care company with Eric the previous summer. (Through his attorney, Allen declined to be interviewed.) 5 The British Bank Robber Foiled By His Own Handwriting. Like Barry, the men were immediately put off by Warrens youth, and even more so by the fact that he hadnt brought any of the books with him to Amsterdam. Serving a seven-year prison sentence following his involvement in a notorious heist (portrayed in the film American Animals), Spencer Reinhard was committed to not losing the best years of his life. He turned to his own art, determined to refine his craft and technique. agents poured in over the wreckage. (The librarian who chased them out of the library did tell police the correct total of four thieves, even though she had seen only three.) Inside were the books, wrapped in sheets and pillowcases. Though I showed artwork briefly with Ann Tower Gallery, my career as an artist has been limited to private sales and commissions, including contributing a mural to PRHBTN in Lexington in 2018. In high school, Warren, a lanky six-footer with a mop of brown hair, was a popular jock and a class clown who delighted his classmates by bear-hugging his nemesis, the dean of students, at graduation. 's computers. They all pled guilty to federal charges of robbery and. They surveyed the offices of the campus police. The guys hung out together when they could, with Warren frequently conjuring up fantasiesthrough billowing clouds of marijuana smokeof post-heist life for them in the Mediterranean, complete with sleek catamarans and topless women. Returning five minutes later with a rolling red suitcase in tow, Spencer opened it on the conference table. So we would see parts like that and we would be Oh, this is just like us. Little did the three know that F.B.I. The next day, they worked off their hangovers by checking out Ground Zero before strolling into the bustle of Chinatown for lunch. Because their campuses were only a mile apart, they assumed they would stay close, but as with most freshmen, their assured identities and easy expectations muddied once they hit campus. Warren was already busily working out the problem, returning for advice to his underworld contact: What if we had some artwork that we wanted to sell? Warren remembers asking him. So we ate at Pazzo's pizza pub. Bam. Built over old tobacco fields in the 80s, they feature ponds with fountains, cookie-cutter brick Colonial houses, street names like Ironbridge Drive and Turnberry Lane, and regulations authorizing penalties for unkempt yards and tacky lawn Santas. The whole operation would have to be completed by 12:30 P.M., as the boys say Chas needed to return the Dodge Caravan to his mother in time for her to sell it, and Spencer and Eric had to get to their final exams in sociology and tennis, respectively. Chas promised to return to pick them up in another car after dropping the minivan off at his moms house. By signing up you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. The meeting lasted no more than 15 minutes, but still, it was a turning point because the men explained to Warren a crucial step of selling rare books, stolen or otherwise: appraisal by a legitimate auction house. Cops entered the basement, a dank pit reeking of marijuana, and found Warren sprawled out on a mattress. When Warren arrived, he saw a man fitting that description seated with three other men. That night Chas snapped, they say, fearing the Christies book appraisalthe Jesus bolt holding Warrens entire heist plan togetherwas in danger of falling through. Im not going to lie. Phase 1 ends when the G.T.A.V. The first call went out to the National Crime Information Center, alerting law enforcement to be on the lookout for a gray minivan with temporary plates, the description of a vehicle seen screeching away from the library. And then they came up with the issue of getting these appraised. A 20-man task force of Lexington police and F.B.I. We felt bad., Warren and Eric rode the elevator to the basement, but they couldn't find the fire exit. Spencer assembled his outfit with even greater care. After several phone calls Warren managed to arrange a meeting in New York. Faced with overwhelming evidence, they all eventually confessed. When they arrived on campus in the replacement G.T.A.V., they couldnt find a parking space anywhere near the library. (Throughout the interviews with the three, it became clear that Chas was the odd man out among the group. We figured, All right, well, now we just got what we thought would be impossible possibly taken care of, Spencer tells me. In the early evening, they say they smoked some celebratory Kentucky Bluegrass weed they had stashed away for the occasion. Currently an artist-in-residence at Blue Macaw in Boscobel, Reinhard says his first trip to Jamaica has stirred his creative senses, and he couldnt be happier. Titled A Plan to Fail, it was part of a series he had done on the crime for a local art gallery while out on bond. The press invariably described them as good boys from good familiesupper-middle-class kids afforded every opportunity, the ones with the most to lose. For added anonymity, Warren bleached his hair blond that night. Barry described himself as an older man with a long ponytail and said he'd be wearing a green scarf. It didnt take long to tie in Eric and Chas. Eric had propped the folios on the steps with his foot when the librarian appeared at the top of the stairs, beside herself with rage after finding Gooch hog-tied in the Rare Book Room. Realizing that the only way out was through the main floor, they took the elevator up once again and carried the books into a back stairwell that led to another exit. (Because Spencer was a Transy student, he risked being recognized in the library.) Around Halloween, Warren drafted a working plan, which he presented to the other three in the basement. Just days before their arrests the three even took in a movie: Oceans 12. 2021 Spencer Reinhard all rights reserved. Lifting a technique straight from the film Reservoir Dogs, Warren assigned code names based on color. The ground floor quickly filled with shouting cops, screaming young women, and a few dazed men in boxer shorts. Starting with a 1970s Pierre Cardin canary-yellow blazer that had belonged to his grandfather, he wore a dress shirt with an ostentatiously large collar and a gold silk scarf. I can't really get into too much specifics, Eric says, but we were doing all kinds of little scams: making fake IDs, making little things here and there. . I was expecting to play soccer quite a lot, but the coach was a completely different person once I got on the team, he tells me. I know the collection is extensive and anything you think I might be interested in seeing, by all means, share, he wrote. Wearing a heavy coat, gloves, and a wool cap, Beckman signed the visitors log. We felt bad., Warren and Eric rode the elevator to the basement, but they couldnt find the fire exit. Like Barry, the men were immediately put off by Warren's youth, and even more so by the fact that he hadn't brought any of the books with him to Amsterdam. We figured the more obvious [we were], the less likely [we would be suspected]., As it was already nearing the end of the school year, and there was a lot of planning yet to be done, they agreed to postpone the theft until at least the fall. I think we all knew that we wanted something different, and we had to break away from where we were living. I wouldnt trade it for anything., Looking ahead, the artist divulged that he is due to have a show next year in Los Angeles and has much to produce. The contact, who identified himself only as Barry, stipulated that Warren had to bring $500 in good-faith money. In early February 2005, the F.B.I. Again, Warren thought otherwise. Warren went up to the third floor to meet Gooch, while Eric waited downstairs for him to call. Eric couldn't get hold of his friend's car, leaving Chas to borrow a Dodge Caravan his mother was fortuitously selling the next day, the boys say. He was still enrolled, but only nominally, and remained on the fringes of campus life. Because of the expense, only Warren made the trip, touching down at Amsterdams Schiphol Airport on a Saturday morning in early March 2004. He scored a joint before checking into a hole-in-the-wall and falling asleep. He said his name was John. Nothing panned out until mid-January, when, following a federal subpoena, Yahoo delivered all the data on its servers related to the walter.beckman@yahoo.com address. They stopped talking entirely and disbanded. They went back up in the elevator, accidentally stopping on the main floor, where they were spotted by another librarian. The crew arrived in New York City early Sunday morning. When the four boys were arrested the news was met with disbelief, as none of them had been in any serious trouble before. agents were sitting behind them the whole time, listening to their every word. The author knocks on the doors bearing the darkest symbols, behind which lie guns, ammo, antisemitism, antiabortion dogmaand a belief in the coming civil war. Eric would stay on the main floor while Warren subdued Gooch in the Rare Book Room. (Having seen their fair share of heist movies, they knew how dangerous it was to leave a paper trail.) (Spencer had had to do a rush job on them because his art-history final had run long.) After the Halloran interview the F.B.I. Not what I expected, not what I wanted it to be, Warren says. 214 E Main StLexington, KY United States 40507, (Shift + Enter to play/pause. More important, the basement was secluded. Far from being social outcasts, they had been popular athletes, and two were on some form of college scholarship. Chas not only lived in the yellow bungalow but also was a part owner of it with his father, a prominent Lexington real-estate investor. Having told their parents that they were going on a ski trip to West Virginia, that weekend they loaded the loot into Eric's Ford Explorer and took off on the 12-hour drive to New York for their Christie's appointment. [This librarian] doesnt know what were carrying, but shes like, Where did these kids come from? Eric says. I know now that they were my best years, and if I hadnt gone to prison, they would have been lost to temptations of the so-called free world., Shuttling between his familys adopted home in California, Colombia, and Stateside, Reinhard said: The transition for me has been great. He was visibly unnerved, Warren remembers. The Lexington Police Departments commercial-burglary squad was assigned to the case. As they took their seats in the conference room, Warren explained that he and Mr. Stephens are the sole representatives of Walter Beckman, whom he described as a very private individual from Boston who had recently inherited several valuable rare books and manuscripts. detective says. Still shaken from her ordeal, Gooch, in her 50s, told police that shortly after entering the Rare Book Room with the two men she had been struck on the arm with a Taserlike weapon, her hands and feet were bound with zip ties, and a wool cap was pulled over her eyes. And I pledged a fraternity, but I really didn't get into that too much. Whilst Spencers life path may have been unorthodox at times one can only but admire what it has led him to. Warren introduced himself as Mr. Williams. A painting by Reinhard, a gifted artist, may offer some clues. And thats when I came up.. . The plan will continue to grow and mature as the leader goes forward. I showed artistic ability from a young age and was selected to attend SCAPA in the fourth grade. After four years in New Jersey I was released back to Lexington where I lived with my parents and continued to paint. agent discovered the stolen books, all undamaged, as well as the five-page typed plan for the heist, an accounting ledger, wigs, instructions for opening a Swiss bank account, and stun guns, which had apparently arrived after the robbery. Photographed by Nan Goldin at the tender age of 19, just about to release his Tony Richardson film. The plan is to continue using birds as my subjects but bringing back some of my earlier prison styles to take my work to the next level. According to the revised plan, they would ditch the old-man disguises and only Warren and Eric would enter the library. One evening it occurred to Spencer that they had used the Walter Beckman Yahoo account to contact both Christie's and Gooch. They think we have [the books]. This story was recently documented in the feature film American Animals. I want to say living that kind of lifethe country clubs, sitting in a classroom and listening to two girls argue about turning down a BMW S.U.V. And the woman there says, We had a set just like this that we sold four years ago for like $12 million. It could have been eight. The books were much heavier than the boys had projected, and the pair could handle only three at a time. When Halloran inquired about them, Spencer spoke up and offered to fetch them from the car. Once the boys were inside the library, students stared at the ridiculous old-man disguises. He said, You do that and you are free then to give them to us when you can. O.K., great. An American Animals coloring book, as well as original drawings Skip to content Spencer Reinhard Home After Audubon Prison Period Abstract Abstract color series Post prison Abstract About Shop Commissions Contact Menu Home After Audubon Prison Period still young, Warren says. The meeting was scheduled for the next morning on the southern edge of Central Park near the Plaza Hotel. Each has a different style of facial hairmuttonchops (Lipka), a Fu Manchu (Borsuk), a Tom Selleck (Reinhard)which Lipka informs me they had carefully trimmed for my visit. Over the phone and by e-mail, Beckman had asked to view, among other items, a first edition of Charles Darwins On the Origin of Species and four double-size folios of John James Audubons Birds of America. And so I see Warren go back. They jump in the van and peel out around the loop.. That was the point all along. When she asked for contact information, Spencer gave her his cell-phone number. Boom. As a precautionary measure, they left the books in the car. Because of the expense, only Warren made the trip, touching down at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport on a Saturday morning in early March 2004. Oh, yeah, he almost got shot, says Eric, laughing. We told B.J. As far as they could see, there were only two ways out: either getting away with the crime or getting arrested for it. The partnership flourished, with Warren as the face of the operation and Eric in charge of ID production, until the two had an argument over $2,000 that went missing from Erics drawer. In the fall of 2004, Warren Lipka moved into the unfinished basement. I guess when we did that she went upstairs to check on B.J.. Lifting a technique straight from the film Reservoir Dogs, Warren assigned code names based on color: Mr. Green (Spencer), Mr. Yellow (Warren), and Mr. Black (Eric)as in the film, emotions turned testy when he assigned Mr. Though she couldn't recall much else about her assailants, one odd detail stood out. By far the most common theory around town was that the heist had been just a frat prank that spun way out of control. Among the prisoners are three of the four unlikely masterminds behind the Transy Book Heist: Warren Lipka, Spencer Reinhard, and Eric Borsuk. The boys readily agreed, and she escorted them through the offices to a small conference room. part of a series on Honesty Indeed one might consider these years to be a catalyst with which he could find his unique vision. His work and practice demonstrates not only the redemptive power of art but the struggle of all artists to articulate and convey their voice and message in an increasingly noisy and distracted world. I was in interaction with people from nearly every country in the Americas, he reflected on the time spent between prisons in Kentucky and Texas. for a second vehicle at a secret location, which, according to Warren's plan, is used to transport team and loot to temporary resting place. After the heist, since it is certain that the stolen books will be entered into art-theft databases within a week, they have to get the books appraised at Christie's in New York immediately. They stopped talking entirely and disbanded. The four men. Spencer drives me out to Lexington [Blue Grass Airport] on a Friday. Thanks for the on my post. The next morning, all nerves, he left for the meeting site, a caf within walking distance. He then explains: "And as for the boy, his parents were believers, and we feared that he would overburden them by transgression and disbelief. Calculated, mathematical, loose, painterly, spontaneous, 2021 Spencer Reinhard all rights reserved, Please send me the price list, I am interested in purchasing an original Reinhard. On the second-floor landing, Chas, in high-end flannel pajamas and thinking they were being robbed, pulled out a derringer, only to drop the weapon at the last moment. We're going to need more people, Warren remembers thinking. Quit struggling, B.J., or do you want to feel more pain? she remembered the man saying. When they arrived on campus in the replacement G.T.A.V., they couldn't find a parking space anywhere near the library. And I pledged a fraternity, but I really didnt get into that too much. We did the robbery as a way to escape, Eric says. It was just funny because we've been in a lot of places that they've been, Eric says. Before, in college, growing up, we were being funneled into this mundane, nickel-and-dime existence. To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. He was still enrolled, but only nominally, and remained on the fringes of campus life. They got security around that? Warren asked Spencer. Spencer Reinhard and Warren Lipka had grown up together in adjacent subdivisions on Lexingtons south sidefully planned residential tracts wedged in between the city and the gradually receding horse country that rings it. Eric Borsuk, Spencer Reinhard, Charles 'Chas' Allen IIand Warren Lipka hatched a grand plan to steal rare books from their uni library Credit: KKYT. But even at that point, it became apparent that Warren and Spencer wouldn't be able to pull it off alone. Believe me, you havent heard the last of us yet.. She offered to take his place. In between soccer practice, classes, painting, and studying, Spencer drew detailed sketches of the inside of the Special Collections Library and the adjacent Rare Book Room, making several appointments with the Special Collections librarian, Betty Jean Gooch, to scout the premises. I was surprised he didnt.. They had reserved a room in the same Midtown Hilton that Spencer and Warren had stayed in nearly a year earlier. The plan for the actual robbery sets out three distinct phases. Theyre all slim and dressed identically in cheap sneakers and a khaki uniform emblazoned with their incarceration numbers, and all have hair down to their shoulders. In their senior year the two became local celebrities after a dramatic photo appeared in the Lexington Herald-Leader showing Lexington Catholic star goalkeeper Lipka and Tates Creek forward Reinhard battling midair during a playoff game. In terms of the dollar amount involved and the extraordinary circumstances, the theft was one of the most significant in its history. Oh, yeah, he almost got shot, says Eric, laughing. (Big Warren declined to comment on the gambling accusations at the time.) Because this is so much bigger than anything weve done before, Eric says. onto nearby Fourth Street and careened through traffic before stopping a mile farther on, in front of a predominantly black housing project. They jump in the van and peel out around the loop.. You know, most people look at that painting as if it was a plan destined to fail, but at the same time, we were planning to fail., In a few years we'll be released. Jamaica has been great so far. Number one on that list was failure to create a business plan. Because their campuses were only a mile apart, they assumed they would stay close, but as with most freshmen, their assured identities and easy expectations muddied once they hit campus. When an agent called, he got a voice-mail recording, This is Spence. On the second-floor landing, Chas, in high-end flannel pajamas and thinking they were being robbed, pulled out a derringer, only to drop the weapon at the last moment. Ad Choices. Warren also ordered four stun guns over the Internet. All four, now 22, children of privilege, products of elite Lexington high schools, are serving seven-year sentences for their parts in the crime. They climbed onto dorm roofs, where they'd stake out the library for hours at a time, marking down the comings and goings of teachers, students, and security personnel. He was told to look for a bearded, heavyset man in a solid-blue sweater. The press invariably described them as good boys from good familiesupper-middle-class kids afforded every opportunity, the ones with the most to lose. When Eric let him in on the plan, Chas mocked the three as deluded potheads, he recalls. The partnership flourished, with Warren as the face of the operation and Eric in charge of ID production, until the two had an argument over $2,000 that went missing from Eric's drawer. Because the boys made the highly unusual decision not to accept the prosecutor's offer to testify against one another during sentencing in exchange for leniency, they were each sentenced to identical seven-year terms. When I get up there, B.J. Phase 1 ends when the G.T.A.V. Phase 1 begins at the bungalow when all four get into what Warren designated the G.T.A.V., or the Go-to-and-Away-Vehicle, all disguised as old men. The others spent time in the library, too, taking notes on staff routines and viable escape routes. Having told their parents that they were going on a ski trip to West Virginia, that weekend they loaded the loot into Erics Ford Explorer and took off on the 12-hour drive to New York for their Christies appointment. The whole operation would have to be completed by 12:30 P.M., as the boys say Chas needed to return the Dodge Caravan to his mother in time for her to sell it, and Spencer and Eric had to get to their final exams in sociology and tennis, respectively. In exchange, Barry slipped him an e-mail address with instructions to sign off any communication with the name Terry. The first call went out to the National Crime Information Center, alerting law enforcement to be on the lookout for a gray minivan with temporary plates, the description of a vehicle seen screeching away from the library. Spencer, meanwhile, was short, wiry, distant, and in many ways Warren's opposite: an over-scheduled, over-achieving, diamond-tipped drill of a kid who excelled at whatever he set himself to. In the morning, Warren says, he left two messages with Leckeys secretary and two more that afternoon. They got security around that? Nonchalantly, very nonchalantly, I mean, just kind of shooting it between us. Improvising on the plan, he kicked Eric and Warren out on the street, believing three men in a gray minivan would draw too much attention. Speculative plans became actual plans, the plan became a dry run, the dry run became a crime - a botched affair that . They also noticed a group of people lingering in the Rare Book Room. He loved that it had been made the screen saver on the F.B.I. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. Frank Spencer Broker at Keller Williams Realty Published Feb 20, 2017 + Follow This past week we held a training outlining the 21 . Seeing something in the wayward Warren, the preppy grifter pitched him the idea of selling fake Kentucky drivers licenses in the U.K. dorms. So we get the passport from the dude, plane tickets. By signing up you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. Just days before their arrests the three even took in a movie: Ocean's 12. Ive met with them, Eric continues. Theyre one of Hollywoods brightest starsand most troubled actors. According to the revised plan, they would ditch the old-man disguises and only Warren and Eric would enter the library. I get the call on the cell phone. It'll show up on your profile and if approved, on this page. I was nervous. So we go back to the guy in Lexington and we say, Listen, we want to go somewhere, we want to go out of the country, and we need documentation, Warren explains. Several weeks before Spencer was approached by Warren about the fake-ID business, he had been on a freshman-orientation tour of Transy, including the library and its exceptional collection of rare books and manuscripts. He thought he was much better than everybody else, and he got to the point where he wasn't like us. The crew arrived in New York City early Sunday morning. It Was Catastrophic: Inside Prince Andrews Misguided Bid to Explain Away Epstein, In the wake of Jeffrey Epsteins arrest and apparent suicide, Prince Andrew moved from the fringe of a swirling underage-sex scandal toward its white-hot center. At only $200 a month, the price was right, as Warren was broke after having shut down his and Spencers fake-ID business and dropping out of U.K. for the semester to focus full-time on the heist. These people's perspectives, because they have money, they're tweaked., In October of his freshman year, Warren quit the U.K. soccer team, forfeiting his scholarship. The take could be more than $5 million. I was kind of skeptical, continues Spencer, but the way I rationalized it was: it's the biggest auction house. So I kind of go, That would be pretty crazy, wouldnt it? He said, Yeah, that would be kind of crazy. I then said, You know, why dont you look into it more and well go from there? Just like . The fourth, Charles Chas Allen II, had been transferred to a federal medical center in Lexington.) Warren and Eric got out of the G.T.A.V. And that's when I came up. I took my zip ties and I put them around her feet and put them around her arms. It was about at that point that Gooch remembers Warren saying, Quit struggling, B.J., or do you want to feel more pain?. Vanity Fair may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The set was one of fewer than 200 produced. Afterward, they returned to the Hilton for an early night. Behind the main building and through three blastproof security doors is the prison visitors room, where I meet separately with Likpa, Reinhard, and Borsuk for a series of interviews almost a year into their sentence. from an unsuspecting friend and got his hands on zip ties, a wool cap, electricians tape, and bedsheets. She agreed. and local detectives. Both boys were spitting images of Mr. Stephens and Mr. Williams. for a second vehicle at a secret location, which, according to Warrens plan, is used to transport team and loot to temporary resting place. After the heist, since it is certain that the stolen books will be entered into art-theft databases within a week, they have to get the books appraised at Christies in New York immediately. I see Warren and Eric bust out of the back door, Spencer says, describing what he saw unfold from his lookout position. I'm not going to lie. They tried to come up with some link the cops could make between them and the theft, but they couldnt. The others spent time in the library, too, taking notes on staff routines and viable escape routes. Shift + Tab to replay. He focused above all on painting, gaining admission into a prestigious Lexington arts program. She also said that she was so suspicious and put off by the young men's youth and demeanor that she had recommended to her boss that they not pursue the business. Back at Warrens that afternoon, the boys were transfixed by local coverage of the Transy Book Heist.. During a meeting in the basement, Warren convinced the other two that they were going to need a fourth, principally to help haul the nearly 250 pounds in Audubon folios out of the library. The stun guns Warren had ordered never arrived, so he drove around town and returned with a Black Cobra Stun Pen, and had Spencer zap him and Eric to test its knockdown power. Warren called Gooch back to change Walter Beckman's appointment to three P.M. On the morning of December 16, Warren's carefully scripted plan began to unravel almost immediately. A witness had written down a license-plate number, but it was way off. Because no one would go to Christie's with stolen books to get them appraisedthat's how we did a lot of stuff, like, we would smoke weed directly under the [security] camera on the Transy campus, park a car right underneath it and then smoke for like an hour. What they would tell me, then, is their version of eventsand the only complete account of the planning, execution, and aftermath of the heist. After researching auction houses online, Warren singled out Christie's in New York. agent discovered the stolen books, all undamaged, as well as the five-page typed plan for the heist, an accounting ledger, wigs, instructions for opening a Swiss bank account, and stun guns, which had apparently arrived after the robbery. When Halloran inquired about them, Spencer spoke up and offered to fetch them from the car. I never intended to paint them and I resisted the idea but in the end I couldn't help but indulge the irony. Remembering Distinguished Jamaicans Cabinet ministers of 1955 and 1959, Tricia Nicholas makes a mark in corporate governance , Brazil reckons with artistic treasures ruined in riot, A reporter at a dying paper solves a serial murder, ChatGPT, DALL-E 2 and collapse of creative process, Set goals and appropriate their manifestation, Looted ancient sarcophagus returned to Egypt, Heres how your cup of coffee contributes to climate change, Digital Archives: Online editions 2006-Now. Because this is so much bigger than anything weve done before.. In the morning, Warren says, he left two messages with Leckey's secretary and two more that afternoon. See also Leave a message. A Google search of Spencer Reinhard brought up numerous hits for soccer in the Lexington area. After a brief discussion they chose Chas Allen, a handsome, clean-cut U.K. business major who had started the lawn-care company with Eric the previous summer. As reported by People, poor planning and a fumbling execution including one member, Reinhard, leaving his home phone number at an action house eventually led to their capture. I spent two years in FCI Ashland before being transferred to Fort Dix, New Jersey. Mr. Beckman now wanted these books appraised. I cant really get into too much specifics, Eric says, but we were doing all kinds of little scams: making fake IDs, making little things here and there. So we go back down to the bottom floor just to get away from her. He covered his tracks by using public phones and campus computers. They also noticed a group of people lingering in the Rare Book Room. They think we have [the books]. Undeterred, Warren introduced himself as Terry, firmly shaking hands before sitting down. The meeting was scheduled for the next morning on the southern edge of Central Park near the Plaza Hotel. The take could be more than $5 million. Waiting for the law to snatch them was nerve-racking, but they went on with their lives as if nothing had been amiss. As they ran, they stumbled again into Chas, who had returned in another car as promised, just in time to save them and drive Eric to U.K. for his tennis-class exam. (Through his attorney, Allen declined to be interviewed.) A female detective went undercover as a Transy student, tailing Spencer while a team staked out the yellow bungalow. What becomes apparent, as first faintly and then irreversibly, is the painting as a negative apotheosis of color and form, which Reinhardt defended himself against. . The reality however was rather more mundane, he sensed that his studies were little more than a continuation of his high school. . Churchill's statement can be agreed with. During our interview Eric told me, He was like just a weight on us. The truth is, but for one obvious, big mistakethe trip to Christiesthey probably would have gotten away with it, a Lexington police detective told me. He also didn't have photos, photocopies, documentation, or even the slightest ability to intelligently discuss the books. We figured the more obvious [we were], the less likely [we would be suspected]., As it was already nearing the end of the school year, and there was a lot of planning yet to be done, they agreed to postpone the theft until at least the fall. Who do we trust?. The reaction to the plan was generally positiveshortly after Thanksgiving, they moved forward. After a quick powwow in the stacks, the conspirators decided to abort the mission for the time being and retreated to the bungalow. His malaise was likely exacerbated by his parents impending divorce amid his mothers allegations that his father, Big Warren, the celebrated coach of the universitys womens soccer team, had gambled the family into bankruptcy. When summer break began, the three returned home to the subdivisions of South Lexington. They stuffed some of the smaller books Gooch had pulled out for them into their backpacks. I'm utterly curious about decision-making | Sharing lessons learned from the thousands of decisions I've studied and made | Founder https://www.resolve.blog. As she was heading toward a display case, Gooch felt a tingling on her right arm and collapsed to the floor. Warren sectioned off a bedroom by hanging bedsheets from the rafters and furnished it with an old mattress and a tangerine easy chair he had picked up from Goodwill. All reinhard art prints ship within 48 hours and include a 30-day money-back guarantee. [Warren's] like, Come on up, Eric remembers. (Throughout the interviews with the three, it became clear that Chas was the odd man out among the group. The three then take the staff-only elevator down to the bottom floor and escape out the west fire exit. believing that they had escaped with next to nothing. Now the hard partwe have to steal them. I was nervous. None the less, still super stoked Lex Art League accepted 3 of my artworks. . The story behind their motiveand how they got caught. Twelve million dollars, just sitting there? Warren and Eric got out of the G.T.A.V. Phase 1 begins at the bungalow when all four get into what Warren designated the G.T.A.V., or the Go-to-and-Away-Vehicle, all disguised as old men. April 20, 2022. He was whisked into a squad car. Chas turned the G.T.A.V. In the weeks following the book heist, law enforcement followed leads at Transy and reviewed countless hours of security footage from the U.K. computer lab, to which a police technician had traced the e-mail from Walter Beckman to Gooch. Bam. There were all sorts of theories as to why they had done it: they were drug addicts; they had amassed large gambling debtsor Lipkas father had, and the boys did it to save the familys honor (the variant most popular with the local papers). They tried to come up with some link the cops could make between them and the theft, but they couldn't. I was surprised he didn't.. sent a team to interview Melanie Halloran, who told the agents about her meeting with Mr. Stephens and Mr. Williams. Starting with a 1970s Pierre Cardin canary-yellow blazer that had belonged to his grandfather, he wore a dress shirt with an ostentatiously large collar and a gold silk scarf. Warren went up to the third floor to meet Gooch, while Eric waited downstairs for him to call. Gicle print on Hahnemuhle Photo Paper (Matt 210gr) 2021 Limited edition of 25, all prints are signed and numbered. No response. It was very punishing, that first couple of months in college. Writing from walter.beckman@yahoo.com, Warren sent B. J. Gooch an e-mail confirming Beckmans December 16 appointment at the Rare Book Room to view the Audubons and a few other items. Aside from harming B. J. Gooch, Spencer, Warren, and Eric maintain that they have no regrets. All Rights Reserved. "It's often considered a mistake in the art world to have multiple styles, but I have to go wherever my inspiration takes me. With a long, thin face and bleached-blond hair and sideburns, he appeared younger than Gooch had expected. See, we have no choice now but to create something new, someplace else. Warren made an appraisal appointment at Christies in New York for Walter Beckman, a pseudonym inspired by the soccer star David Beckham. I'd heard about them before, but I didn't know anything about them. Back at Warrens later that afternoon, the boys were transfixed by local coverage of the Transy Book Heist. According to the news, it appeared that neither Gooch nor anyone else was able to provide the police with an accurate description of the boys. For one, its cheaper, and this allowed me to work less and spend more time with my young daughter. They simply ignored him, and the four returned to Lexington. American painter Spencer Reinhard is loving the new art he is diligently producing. The thieves left no fingerprints behind, and there were almost no witnesses. As a precautionary measure, they left the books in the car. Oct 16, 2018. Back at Warren's later that afternoon, the boys were transfixed by local coverage of the Transy Book Heist. According to the news, it appeared that neither Gooch nor anyone else was able to provide the police with an accurate description of the boys. Frightened and alone in an unfriendly neighborhood and weighed down with priceless books, Warren and Eric barreled down the street, frantically trying to hail a police cruiser to rescue them. We need to just get over this stuff, Eric tells me, explaining how Warren re-entered his life after their falling-out the previous semester. Wedged in among the other houses on Beaumont Avenue, a quiet residential street near the U.K. campus, is a beaten-down yellow cinder-block bungalow, with two bedrooms on the second floor and two on the first. Improvising on the plan, he kicked Eric and Warren out on the street, believing three men in a gray minivan would draw too much attention. This is the story you didnt get from the film. At 11 the next morning, Chas slipped the G.T.A.V. Eric dropped the books, and he and Warren made a run for it. The painting is a kaleidoscope of images, including what appears to be a computer, a cell phone, a bong, the Transylvania library, and loose sheets of notepaper, floating above a desiccated. Artistically, it offered me the freedom to make the work I wanted to make without concern for my audience. We are currently living there and have a one-year-old daughter. He added: Its always nice to be with people that are familiar with the area, and Ive been made to feel very welcome. They take you in the Special Collections and show you these books, Spencer remembers, including Transy's prized Birds of America, by John James Audubon, a four-volume set of life-size engravings the pioneer wildlife artist completed in London in 1838. The severity of the requested sentences was predicated on the dual propositions that, although the Audubon volumes had never been physically removed from the library, according to the letter of the law they were nonetheless stolenincreasing the monetary value of the crimeand that the Black Cobra Stun Pen used to subdue B. J. Gooch not only inflicted physical harm but was in actuality a dangerous weapon. Worse still for the defendants, B. J. Gooch's ordeal had become a cause clbre among librarians, many of whom wrote letters to the judge arguing against leniency. We did the robbery as a way to escape, Eric says. They surveyed the offices of the campus police. That afternoon they worked their way back uptown, to scope out Christies steel-and-glass headquarters before their Tuesday appointment. He was just so unbearable. Choose your favorite reinhard art prints from 2,323 available designs. What I found incredibly valuable about prison was the multiculturalism. So I walk off happy, come back to the States, and blow Spencers mind.. Once safely back in Lexington, the two created a Yahoo account and sent off the e-mail in which they claimed to have unspecified rare books in their possession, using the name Terry, as instructed. As they took their seats in the conference room, Warren explained that he and Mr. Stephens are the sole representatives of Walter Beckman, whom he described as a very private individual from Boston who had recently inherited several valuable rare books and manuscripts. agents were sitting behind them the whole time, listening to their every word. Were going to need more people, Warren remembers thinking. Fuck Biden, Dont Tread on Me, and a Wisconsin Death Trip for Our Times. Warren had been convinced after spotting a suspicious man loitering near the yellow bungalowwhen he stepped outside, the man disappeared into an unmarked white van with tinted windows and sped off. If we go in there they're not going to suspect that we stole these. During our interview Eric told me, He was like just a weight on us. Afterward, he was to call Eric up to haul the books in two trips to the G.T.A.V., which was to be driven by Chas. Now the hard partwe have to steal them. I was nervous. He was whisked into a squad car. See, we have no choice now but to create something new, someplace else. Opposite him there is another young man, fully fleshed and with a neat haircut, resting in a chair, staring into space. I want to say living that kind of lifethe country clubs, sitting in a classroom and listening to two girls argue about turning down a BMW S.U.V. The L.P.D. As a child he drew and painted and his abilities led him to consider a career as an artist whilst at High School. He said, You do that and you are free then to give them to us when you can. O.K., great. To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. Spencer, meanwhile, was short, wiry, distant, and in many ways Warrens opposite: an over-scheduled, over-achieving, diamond-tipped drill of a kid who excelled at whatever he set himself to. Spencer gives me 500 bucks, in my pocket. Both boys were spitting images of Mr. Stephens and Mr. Williams. So we get the passport from the dude, plane tickets. We spoke about his paintings, especially A Plan to Fail. Only by committing a felony could they ensure that they would never end up living back in the sterile, suburban world of the subdivisions. Once I was off of probation, I was able to travel and eventually made a trip to Colombia where I painted my first large-scale mural and met my wife Marcela. When the four boys were arrested the news was met with disbelief, as none of them had been in any serious trouble before. They had reserved a room in the same Midtown Hilton that Spencer and Warren had stayed in nearly a year earlier. As she inspected the items, Halloran dutifully took notes, then asked a few questions regarding their provenance, which Spencer answered as best he could under the circumstances. Two months later, amid a local media frenzy, the four formally pleaded guilty to all six federal charges, including theft of cultural artifacts from a public museum and interstate transportation of stolen property. Id heard about them before, but I didnt know anything about them. and Lexington police put the pair under surveillance. A few minutes later, a short, dark-haired young man, also dressed in a winter coat, cap, and gloves, entered the library. It was only a tennis final, Eric says, but that final that day was actually harder than I thought it was going to be. He scored a joint before checking into a hole-in-the-wall and falling asleep. Despite the differing temperamentsand the disapproval of Spencer's parentsthe two were best friends from the age of eight, a friendship that revolved largely around soccer. Phase 2 involves the actual theft, and begins when Spencer takes his position at an upper-floor window of the nearby athletic center, where he will be on lookout. Realizing that the only way out was through the main floor, they took the elevator up once again and carried the books into a back stairwell that led to another exit. It was hard for us. Even if they did steal the books, for example, how would they ever sell them? Chas not only lived in the yellow bungalow but also was a part owner of it with his father, a prominent Lexington real-estate investor. In between soccer practice, classes, painting, and studying, Spencer drew detailed sketches of the inside of the Special Collections Library and the adjacent Rare Book Room, making several appointments with the Special Collections librarian, Betty Jean Gooch, to scout the premises. I never intended to paint them and I resisted the idea but in the end I couldnt help but indulge the irony. No response. In a duffel bag by his bed an F.B.I. Shop - Spencer Reinhard A selection of some of my works available in limited edition print. from an unsuspecting friend and got his hands on zip ties, a wool cap, electrician's tape, and bedsheets. as we left we were going to make an anonymous phone call so they knew she was up here, Eric continues. Titled A Plan to Fail, it was part of a series he had done on the crime for a local art gallery while out on bond. But even at that point, it became apparent that Warren and Spencer wouldnt be able to pull it off alone. I see Warren and Eric bust out of the back door, Spencer says, describing what he saw unfold from his lookout position. Because no one would go to Christies with stolen books to get them appraisedthats how we did a lot of stuff, like, we would smoke weed directly under the [security] camera on the Transy campus, park a car right underneath it and then smoke for like an hour. Donald Trump to Evangelicals: You Cant Break Up With Me Because Im Breaking Up With You First, Reality Is Submerged in Fantasy: The Villages Is a Boomers UtopiaAnd Demographic Time Bomb. and local detectives. But before long they were put to chase once again, this time by two local thugs. All these girls I could draw better than when I was in sixth grade.. I took my zip ties and I put them around her feet and put them around her arms. It was about at that point that Gooch remembers Warren saying, Quit struggling, B.J., or do you want to feel more pain?. He was just so unbearable. It gave me an excellent opportunity to learn Spanish. This is my first time on the island, any island for that matter, he said. Amid safety concerns, and anxiety over the fate of a $200 million movie. Undeterred, Warren introduced himself as Terry, firmly shaking hands before sitting down. Still shaken from her ordeal, Gooch, in her 50s, told police that shortly after entering the Rare Book Room with the two men she had been struck on the arm with a Taserlike weapon, her hands and feet were bound with zip ties, and a wool cap was pulled over her eyes. They went back up in the elevator, accidentally stopping on the main floor, where they were spotted by another librarian. They were 20 steps ahead [of the librarian]. But after stewing in the magnitude of the potential dollar amount involved, and once convinced of the ease of the heist, the logic of the appraisal, and the legitimacy of Warrens Amsterdam connections, they say, he threw his lot in with the others. notified all the airports in the area, dispatched officers to surrounding neighborhoods, and called the F.B.I. seagram's lemon italian ice nutrition facts, black plays in houston 2022, midsummer house dress code, nicki minaj text to speech, duke psychiatry appointments, linda grant sean kelly, san giorgio calacatta polished porcelain tile, marble pound cake starbucks discontinued, mga halimbawa ng laguhan, bryant university guest pass, sherman fairchild foundation trustees, problems with the reggio emilia approach, greystone homes in firebaugh, ca, brachydont teeth in animals, devil's pulpit golf membership cost,