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. Spencer gives me 500 bucks, in my pocket. At first, we wanted to move to the States as quickly as possible, but we began to see the benefits of living in South America. Warren called me one night and hes like, We need to get together. 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. No response. See also 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. Even if they did steal the books, for example, how would they ever sell them? I know the collection is extensive and anything you think I might be interested in seeing, by all means, share, he wrote. After four years in New Jersey I was released back to Lexington where I lived with my parents and continued to paint. How the hell would we do this? And he said, I know a guy in New York.. He covered his tracks by using public phones and campus computers. Across town at U.K., in a towering cinder-block dorm, Warrens world was spinning apart at a much faster clip. 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. Cops entered the basement, a dank pit reeking of marijuana, and found Warren sprawled out on a mattress. Gooch agreed to reschedule for 11 the next morning. Boom. sent a team to interview Melanie Halloran, who told the agents about her meeting with Mr. Stephens and Mr. Williams. I developed techniques that no one that I know of has done. The day of the heist was to be Thursday, December 16, one of the last days of final examsthe library would be nearly empty. Us three, we were much thicker than he was.) And what Chas likely didn't know was that, for Warren, Eric, and Spencer, the actual appraisal and sale of the stolen books had become irrelevant to the mission. Shortly thereafter he was introduced to a Lexington Catholic alumnus who was making an easy living in identity theft. Writing from walter.beckman@yahoo.com, Warren sent B. J. Gooch an e-mail confirming Beckman's December 16 appointment at the Rare Book Room to view the Audubons and a few other items. New film American Animals tells the story of one of the most audacious heists in U.S. history when three well off friends Spencer Reinhard, Warren Lipka, Eric Borsuk and Chas Allen decided to try . The fourth, Charles Chas Allen II, had been transferred to a federal medical center in Lexington.) and Lexington police put the pair under surveillance. 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?. I was kind of skeptical, continues Spencer, but the way I rationalized it was: its the biggest auction house. Chas turned the G.T.A.V. I was nervous. 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. The L.P.D. 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. In seeking to find a voice of ones own the obstacles are myriad, and often many succumb to the inevitable pressures of life and abandon their practice. a plan to fail spencer reinhard painting Bid on Art by Today's Leading Artists. They stuffed some of the smaller books Gooch had pulled out for them into their backpacks. 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. Warren introduced himself as Mr. Williams. Aside from harming B. J. Gooch, Spencer, Warren, and Eric maintain that they have no regrets. All these girls I could draw better than when I was in sixth grade.. part of a series on Honesty I see Warren and Eric bust out of the back door, Spencer says, describing what he saw unfold from his lookout position. Eric couldnt get hold of his friends car, leaving Chas to borrow a Dodge Caravan his mother was fortuitously selling the next day, the boys say. Returning five minutes later with a rolling red suitcase in tow, Spencer opened it on the conference table. Choose your favorite reinhard art prints from 2,323 available designs. So I walk off happy, come back to the States, and blow Spencer's mind.. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. Before, in college, growing up, we were being funneled into this mundane, nickel-and-dime existence. Darren Matthews. He was still enrolled, but only nominally, and remained on the fringes of campus life. It was hard for us. Warren was like, I've talked to these guys. By far the most common theory was that the heist had been just a frat prank that spun way out of control. received two additional pieces of evidence from Christie's: security-camera footage of the meeting and a cell-phone number the men had left behind. He loved that it had been made the screen saver on the F.B.I.s computers. He then explains: "And as for the boy, his parents were believers, and we feared that he would overburden them by transgression and disbelief. 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. When they arrived on campus in the replacement G.T.A.V., they couldn't find a parking space anywhere near the library. 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. The four men. 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. It immediately had kind of sparked my imagination, like a fantasy., O.K., so were sitting in the car, smoking weed, Warren recalls, and then Spencer said, I just took a tour in that library, and theres shit sitting there you wouldnt believe. I know the collection is extensive and anything you think I might be interested in seeing, by all means, share, he wrote. The others spent time in the library, too, taking notes on staff routines and viable escape routes. Now the hard partwe have to steal them. I was nervous. A witness had written down a license-plate number, but it was way off. Eric rented a proper bedroom upstairs, while Spencer moved back into the dorms at Transylvania. Among them was the 2002 photo from the Lexington Herald-Leader of Spencer and Warren playing soccer. agents were sitting behind them the whole time, listening to their every word. 2021 Spencer Reinhard all rights reserved. The Lexington Police Department's commercial-burglary squad was assigned to the case. Just days before their arrests the three even took in a movie: Ocean's 12. I spent two years in FCI Ashland before being transferred to Fort Dix, New Jersey. We did the robbery as a way to escape, Eric says. 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. Along the way a stoned Spencer read aloud from the purloined first edition of On the Origin of Species, particularly fascinated by the section on how the ears of domesticated animals have drooped over generations due to the disuse of the muscles of the ear from the animals not being much alarmed by danger.. 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. 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. Because the boys pleaded guilty, many of the cases crucial details remain unknown even to law enforcement. Only cannabis-smoking goalkeeper Warren Lipka . 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. Shop - Spencer Reinhard A selection of some of my works available in limited edition print. 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. Warren and Eric got out of the G.T.A.V. Um. . The phone number was registered to a Gary Reinhard of Lexington, Kentucky. Jamaica has been great so far. 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. By early November the boys were selling fake IDs at a hundred dollars apiece, and had apparently branched out into more lucrative identity manipulations. The fourth, Charles Chas Allen II, had been transferred to a federal medical center in Lexington.) A week later came a terse reply, telling Terry that, if he wanted to sell something, he was going to have to come in person to Amsterdam, as that is where I do business. Both Spencer and Warren were thrilleduntil they realized it would require traveling with a passport. The plan for the actual robbery sets out three distinct phases. Ultimately, upon release, his art career has flourished. 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. When she asked for contact information, Spencer gave her his cell-phone number. That was the plan. It was just funny because weve been in a lot of places that theyve been, Eric says. Frank Spencer Broker at Keller Williams Realty Published Feb 20, 2017 + Follow This past week we held a training outlining the 21 . He also didnt have photos, photocopies, documentation, or even the slightest ability to intelligently discuss the books. 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. (Having seen their fair share of heist movies, they knew how dangerous it was to leave a paper trail.) All these girls I could draw better than when I was in sixth grade.. He focused above all on painting, gaining admission into a prestigious Lexington arts program. (Because Spencer was a Transy student, he risked being recognized in the library.) Amid safety concerns, and anxiety over the fate of a $200 million movie. because she wanted a new Range Rover, like, what? To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. Suddenly without Erics mock-ups, software, and equipment, Warren thought of Spencer. The Lexington Police Departments commercial-burglary squad was assigned to the case. In early February 2005, the F.B.I. By one oclock that afternoon, the 227-year-old liberal-arts college was swarming with campus police, uniformed Lexington Police, plainclothes detectives, and forensic teams, as well as local news crews covering the developing Transy Book Heist, a crime that would one day be listed among the F.B.I.s all-time most significant art-theft cases. In the morning, Warren says, he left two messages with Leckeys secretary and two more that afternoon. Though she couldnt recall much else about her assailants, one odd detail stood out. The truth is, but for one big mistake, they probably would have gotten away with it, an L.P.D. They said that this set, Birds of America, sold for $12 million. I said, Twelve million dollars, just sitting there? Aside from harming B. J. Gooch, Spencer, Warren, and Eric maintain that they have no regrets. When an agent called, he got a voice-mail recording, This is Spence. 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. The F.B.I. Just days before their arrests the three even took in a movie: Oceans 12. What I found incredibly valuable about prison was the multiculturalism. Four students stole priceless books from Transylvania University. 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. onto nearby Fourth Street and careened through traffic before stopping a mile farther on, in front of a predominantly black housing project. The take could be more than $5 million. Eric dropped the books, and he and Warren made a run for it. When Warren arrived, he saw a man fitting that description seated with three other men. After prison I took up a casual interest in birds. If we got away with it, we'd be in Europe living this crazy life thinking we were Ocean's 11 types. 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. Chas backs up [the van] and almost hits the woman as Eric comes around to the door. Honored to share the PRHBTN fest with you - your mural being the main attraction of course. 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