CHELSEA — Police have released security footage of a man they say managed to steal thousands of dollars in laptops from the office of a Chelsea advertising firm even after an employee found him hiding in a utility closet.
The suspect is accused of stealing eight laptops from the offices of Gravity, an ad agency at 114 W. 26th St. between Sixth and Seventh avenues, according to the NYPD.
The man snuck up to the the office and stashed himself away in a closet just after 6 p.m. on April 22, according to police.
An employee who was headed home for the day discovered the burglar hanging out in the closet, but the intruder was able to convince the worker he was just looking for a place to charge his cell phone, police said.
Apparently believing the story, the employee escorted the suspect down to the security desk to ask about a phone charger, but the burglar managed to talk the security guards into allowing him back upstairs, according to a report.
Once upstairs, the burglar hid out in a stairwell until everyone was gone and proceeded to swipe eight laptops worth about $5,500 from the ad agency’s offices, police said.
Police described the suspect as a man about 25 years old, and last seen wearing a white baseball cap, white beats headphones, a black T-shirt and multicolored sneakers.
Representatives of Gravity did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
