UNION SQUARE — A thief with a passion for pants was caught trying to steal dozens of pairs from a Fifth Avenue Gap, according to police.
Justo Nieves, 37, of The Bronx, went into the Gap store at 122 Fifth Ave., at West 18th Street, just before 9 pm on Feb. 7 and grabbed 50 pairs of pants from a display shelf, according to police.
A store security agent spotted Nieves loaded down with the massive stack of clothing, stopped him before he could leave and called police, according to a police report.
The pants were worth $3,100, according to a police spokesman.
Prosecutors charged Nieves with grand larceny and a judge ordered him held on $1,000 bail. He’s currently at Rikers Island, records show.
Nieves has an extensive criminal history with 27 prior arrests, including a petit larceny charge in The Bronx on Jan. 20 and two outstanding trespassing cases in The Bronx stemming from an Oct. 24 arrest and another on Dec. 5, according to court records and a police spokesman.
His lawyer was not immediately available for comment.
