While The Carlyle Wasn't Looking...
2011 hasn't been a good year for California-based wine steward Mark Lugo. After serving four months for robbing a $275,000 Picasso off the walls of a San Francisco art gallery, Lugo now has been caught stealing yet more art out of two Manhattan hotels: the Carlyle and the Chambers.
Throwing caution to the wind, Lugo apparently walked straight out of the buildings with the artworks in hand—and in broad daylight, according to District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. When police finally tracked him down at his house, they turned up nineteen total pieces, including another Picasso. What we wanna know is, what were those hotel doormen up to when all this was happening? Walking into a gallery is one thing (those places can be deader than graveyards sometimes), but a hotel? It's not like Lugo was robbing the Chelsea Hotel.
The NY Times reports that Lugo pleaded not guilty on Friday to charges of grand larceny and possession of stolen property, related to hotel thefts at the Carlyle and Chambers back in June. What is increasingly unclear are his motives. His lawyer had this to say:
"I think it’s more than just liking art. I think time will show that Mr. Lugo is someone who has been struggling with particular difficulties and went through a very difficult six-week-to-two-month period."
Yeah, well, we've gone through difficult six-week periods too, and never robbed art from the Carlyle. To each his own!
[Photo: CNT]
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