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 minimum-security Federal Correctional Institution in Ashland, Kentucky, 125 miles from Lexington, houses approximately 1,200 inmates in multi-story cellblocks encircled by concentric layers of razor-topped fencing and fortified guard towers. 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. In the morning, Warren says, he left two messages with Leckeys secretary and two more that afternoon. Opposite him there is another young man, fully fleshed and with a neat haircut, resting in a chair, staring into space. 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. Copyright 2023 The Gleaner Company (Media) Limited. American painter Spencer Reinhard is loving the new art he is diligently producing. Phase 2 ends when the loot is loaded into the G.T.A.V. Though she couldnt recall much else about her assailants, one odd detail stood out. I think we all knew that we wanted something different, and we had to break away from where we were living. Spencer assembled a small wardrobe of fake beards, gray wigs, and costume glue. 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. 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. He covered his tracks by using public phones and campus computers. 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. The take could be more than $5 million. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. Leave a message. A Google search of Spencer Reinhard brought up numerous hits for soccer in the Lexington area. The next day, they worked off their hangovers by checking out Ground Zero before strolling into the bustle of Chinatown for lunch. 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?. A uniformed doorman cheerily welcomed both boys into the lobby, where they informed reception that they were there for Mr. Walter Beckman's appointment with Thomas Leckey, Christie's rare-book specialist. (Spencer had had to do a rush job on them because his art-history final had run long.) Warren and Chas left the other two and staggered to the nearby China Club, a tacky West Side nightclub, which they knew about from the famous Rick James episode of Chappelles Show. The ground floor quickly filled with shouting cops, screaming young women, and a few dazed men in boxer shorts. Not what I expected, not what I wanted it to be, Warren says. agents poured in over the wreckage. In the morning, Warren says, he left two messages with Leckey's secretary and two more that afternoon. I get the call on the cell phone. 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. He focused above all on painting, gaining admission into a prestigious Lexington arts program. A 20-man task force of Lexington police and F.B.I. Boom. 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. I had so few distractions to take me away from my work, and only by bettering myself could escape the belief that I was losing my best years. In the fall of 2003, Warren left for the University of Kentucky on a full athletic scholarship, eager to take his game to the next level, and with vague plans of getting into politics. 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. As she was heading toward a display case, Gooch felt a tingling on her right arm and collapsed to the floor. Im not sure, but it was a lot. Churchill's statement can be agreed with. 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. 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. By that point Warren, Eric, and Spencer knew for certain they were going down. 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. According to the revised plan, they would ditch the old-man disguises and only Warren and Eric would enter the library. 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. notified all the airports in the area, dispatched officers to surrounding neighborhoods, and called the F.B.I. 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. Far from being social outcasts, they had been popular athletes, and two were on some form of college scholarship. Spencer gives me 500 bucks, in my pocket. 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?. into a perfect parking space and watched as Eric and Warren entered the library. 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. To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. (Big Warren declined to comment on the gambling accusations at the time.) Um. 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. A female detective went undercover as a Transy student, tailing Spencer while a team staked out the yellow bungalow. Suddenly without Erics mock-ups, software, and equipment, Warren thought of Spencer. They checked into the Hilton Hotel in Midtown, Warren signing in under the nom de guerre Harry Ballsania name backed up with one of their fake Kentucky driver's licensesand paying in cash. as we left we were going to make an anonymous phone call so they knew she was up here, Eric continues. A member of the RJRGLEANER Communications Group. It didnt take long to tie in Eric and Chas. notified all the airports in the area, dispatched officers to surrounding neighborhoods, and called the F.B.I. That night they had dinner at a Japanese restaurant, followed by drinks at the hotel bar, where Warren chummed up to an Iraq veteran, Spencer almost started a brawl after knocking a table full of drinks over, and Eric picked up a middle-aged Brazilian tourist. sent a team to interview Melanie Halloran, who told the agents about her meeting with Mr. Stephens and Mr. Williams. They climbed onto dorm roofs, where theyd stake out the library for hours at a time, marking down the comings and goings of teachers, students, and security personnel. He topped off his new living quarters with the last of his worldly belongings: a large-screen television, a DVD player, and a Sony PlayStation. 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. When they arrived on campus in the replacement G.T.A.V., they couldn't find a parking space anywhere near the library. We felt bad., Warren and Eric rode the elevator to the basement, but they couldn't find the fire exit. When Halloran inquired about them, Spencer spoke up and offered to fetch them from the car. From the facts that were available, it appeared that a team of four men, described as Caucasian, in their 20s, had stolen some of the most prized books and manuscripts in the universitys collection, and attacked a librarian in the process. 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. The books were much heavier than the boys had projected, and the pair could handle only three at a time. 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. They tried to come up with some link the cops could make between them and the theft, but they couldn't. 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. The reaction to the plan was generally positiveshortly after Thanksgiving, they moved forward. Wearing a heavy coat, gloves, and a wool cap, Beckman signed the visitors' log. Yet he did allow and encourage the interpretation of his art as an abrogation of space and time and, above all, history. and local detectives. The meeting was scheduled for the next morning on the southern edge of Central Park near the Plaza Hotel. It immediately had kind of sparked my imagination, like a fantasy., O.K., so we're sitting in the car, smoking weed, Warren recalls, and then Spencer said, I just took a tour in that library, and there's shit sitting there you wouldn't believe. Just days before their arrests the three even took in a movie: Oceans 12. 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. On the morning of December 16, Warrens carefully scripted plan began to unravel almost immediately. 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. They stuffed some of the smaller books Gooch had pulled out for them into their backpacks. . It had some tennis trivia in there that I wasnt expecting.. 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. All rights reserved. When Halloran inquired about them, Spencer spoke up and offered to fetch them from the car. I'm expecting when I get up there it's going to be taken care of and I'm just going to start lifting books. American Animals brings to the silver screen the story of the Transy Book Heist of 2004, where four students tried to steal $12 million worth of arts and books from the Special Collections Library . After several phone calls Warren managed to arrange a meeting in New York. Warren and Spencer readied themselves early without waking the others, silently showering, shaving, and putting the finishing touches on their outfits. 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