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If At First You Don't Succeed, Rob Rob Again
By
Jen Chung
Published May 16, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published May 16, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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But then you're apt to be arrested, as Freddy Piro and Louis Spano were, after trying to break into an Independence Community Bank in Jackson Heights again. The NY Times reports that Piro and Spano had cut a hole into the roof of the bank a few months ago, but hit the employee kitchen, not the vault as they had hoped. So they tried again yesterday morning, only this time, the motion-detectors (the bank installed them after the first break-in) were set off by their drilling, and Piro and Spano were nabbed. D'oh! Piro and Spano, who were still on the roof, tried to run away, but police apprehended them, with Spano carrying a bag full of breaking-into-bank equipment (hammers, saw, ropes, kneepads, according to Newsday). They did, however, think some things through: They made sure to "bust" the lights on the roof so people on the 7 train, whose elevated tracks are nearby, wouldn't see them break in.
The Post describes the pair as "Laurel and Hardy" for their bumbling and body shapes, and police think they may be linked to two other robberies where there were holes cut in the roof of the vaults. But in this case, Piro and Spano didn't make it to the vault. An employees tells the Times, "As dumb as these guys seem, it's even dumber to hit this bank on the weekend. Most of these people take their jewelry out of their boxes to wear on the weekend and put them back in on Monday, so the weekend is probably the worst time for that kind of robbery." Heh. Oh, and Piro, who lives in Carroll Gardens, had been arrested for claiming he had a bomb in his bag at a Florida airport - good one.
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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