WILLIAMSBURG — A Thomas Crown wannabe swiped three oil paintings worth more than $10,000 from a neighborhood art gallery Saturday night — but was collared just blocks from the scene with one of the works in hand about an hour later, police sources said.
Louis Lassalle, 49, allegedly swiped the art from a storage room at the Cotton Candy Machine art gallery on South First Street, near Roebling Street, about 8:25 p.m., sources said.
A gallery employee canvassing the area discovered Lassalle carrying one of the works near Roebling and Havemeyer streets about an hour later, police said.
When the worker approached Lassalle, he took off, but officers eventually caught him near the same intersection around 9:50 p.m., police said.
Lassalle, of Jamaica, Queens, was charged with grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property, according to the NYPD.
Police said they were still trying to find the two other pieces he allegedly swiped. It was unclear whether the recovered piece itself or all three stolen pieces were valued at $10,000.