Late one Thursday afternoon in mid-February, the two friends bought a bag of weed and drove the 700 miles to Manhattan in Spencer's Acura Legend. Warren was already busily working out the problem, returning for advice to his underworld contact: What if we had some artwork that we wanted to sell? Warren remembers asking him. So we would see parts like that and we would be Oh, this is just like us. Little did the three know that F.B.I. They also noticed a group of people lingering in the Rare Book Room. She agreed. 1.7K Followers. It didn't take long to tie in Eric and Chas. The two boys sought cover from the cops in the sprawling grounds of the housing projects. You know, most people look at that painting as if it was a plan destined to fail, but at the same time, we were planning to fail., In a few years well be released. It was just funny because we've been in a lot of places that they've been, Eric says. Nothing panned out until mid-January, when, following a federal subpoena, Yahoo delivered all the data on its servers related to the walter.beckman@yahoo.com address. The truth is, but for one obvious, big mistakethe trip to Christiesthey probably would have gotten away with it, a Lexington police detective told me. During a meeting in the basement, Warren convinced the other two that they were going to need a fourth, principally to help haul the nearly 250 pounds in Audubon folios out of the library. And so I see Warren go back.. . Chas backs up [the van] and almost hits the woman as Eric comes around to the door. Well all be . They were skeptical, Warren recalls. How the hell would we do this? And he said, I know a guy in New York.. The fourth, Charles Chas Allen II, had been transferred to a federal medical center in Lexington.) They think we have [the books]. Speculative plans became actual plans, the plan became a dry run, the dry run became a crime - a botched affair that . ). Spencer continued with his heavy schedule of classes, studying, painting, and working out, while Warren returned full-time to U.K. With the pressure mounting, however, Warren was caught shoplifting a TV dinner from a local supermarket, Eric was arrested and charged with D.U.I.police pulled him over not only for running red lights but also because Warren was on top of the car, hanging on to the roof rackand Spencer crashed his Acura Legend. An American Animals coloring book, as well as original drawings Skip to content Spencer Reinhard Home After Audubon Prison Period Abstract Abstract color series Post prison Abstract About Shop Commissions Contact Menu Home After Audubon Prison Period 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. Chas cursed Warren as an incompetent, and condemned the other two as burnouts, demanding that the three figure out a way to get the books appraised so they could move on to the next phase of the plan. A painting by Reinhard, a gifted artist, may offer some clues. Afterward, they returned to the Hilton for an early night. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. Warren was already busily working out the problem, returning for advice to his underworld contact: What if we had some artwork that we wanted to sell? Warren remembers asking him. In high school, Warren, a lanky six-footer with a mop of brown hair, was a popular jock and a class clown who delighted his classmates by bear-hugging his nemesis, the dean of students, at graduation. The crew arrived in New York City early Sunday morning. For one, its cheaper, and this allowed me to work less and spend more time with my young daughter. He scored a joint before checking into a hole-in-the-wall and falling asleep. Its great to be the inspiration for this project., Two weeks into his stay, Reinhard, an ardent ornithologist, whose works draw inspiration from late Dutch-American abstract expressionist Willem de Kooning, feels that his greatest artistic asset is his versatility. The partnership flourished, with Warren as the face of the operation and Eric in charge of ID production, until the two had an argument over $2,000 that went missing from Erics drawer. I developed techniques that no one that I know of has done. But even at that point, it became apparent that Warren and Spencer wouldn't be able to pull it off alone. Suddenly without Erics mock-ups, software, and equipment, Warren thought of Spencer. Meanwhile, Eric lined up the G.T.A.V. I was expecting to play soccer quite a lot, but the coach was a completely different person once I got on the team, he tells me. A painting by Reinhard, a gifted artist, may offer some clues. Not what I expected, not what I wanted it to be, Warren says. Handwriting can be an important piece of evidence in a criminal investigation. We will be stronger, better, wiser for going through this together, the three of us. I can't 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. 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. (Spencer had had to do a rush job on them because his art-history final had run long.) Through it all, I never stopped making art. They take you in the Special Collections and show you these books, Spencer remembers, including Transys prized Birds of America, by John James Audubon, a four-volume set of life-size engravings the pioneer wildlife artist completed in London in 1838. He was just so unbearable. Gicle print on Hahnemuhle Photo Paper (Matt 210gr) 2021 Limited edition of 25, all prints are signed and numbered. Eric rented a proper bedroom upstairs, while Spencer moved back into the dorms at Transylvania. The first call went out to the National Crime Information Center, alerting law enforcement to be on the lookout for a gray minivan with temporary plates, the description of a vehicle seen screeching away from the library. The boys readily agreed, and she escorted them through the offices to a small conference room. Because no one would go to Christies with stolen books to get them appraisedthats 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. Phase 2 ends when the loot is loaded into the G.T.A.V. Again, Warren thought otherwise. I was nervous. They were 20 steps ahead [of the librarian]. It didnt take long to tie in Eric and Chas. At 11 the next morning, Chas slipped the G.T.A.V. If we go in there theyre not going to suspect that we stole these. Amid safety concerns, and anxiety over the fate of a $200 million movie. Spencer was born in 1984 in Lexington Kentucky. He's probably thinking I blamed him for [stealing] the money, which I never really did. Chas promised to return to pick them up in another car after dropping the minivan off at his mom's house. Im not going to lie. See also These people's perspectives, because they have money, they're tweaked., In October of his freshman year, Warren quit the U.K. soccer team, forfeiting his scholarship. He also didn't have photos, photocopies, documentation, or even the slightest ability to intelligently discuss the books. The next day, they worked off their hangovers by checking out Ground Zero before strolling into the bustle of Chinatown for lunch. They went back up in the elevator, accidentally stopping on the main floor, where they were spotted by another librarian. After several phone calls Warren managed to arrange a meeting in New York. Whilst Spencers life path may have been unorthodox at times one can only but admire what it has led him to. and Lexington police put the pair under surveillance. What becomes apparent, as first faintly and then irreversibly, is the painting as a negative apotheosis of color and form, which Reinhardt defended himself against. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. Spencer gives me 500 bucks, in my pocket. very unofficial.. Despite the differing temperamentsand the disapproval of Spencers parentsthe two were best friends from the age of eight, a friendship that revolved largely around soccer. as we left we were going to make an anonymous phone call so they knew she was up here, Eric continues. We felt bad., Warren and Eric rode the elevator to the basement, but they couldnt find the fire exit. When she asked for contact information, Spencer gave her his cell-phone number. They stopped talking entirely and disbanded. . So we would see parts like that and we would be Oh, this is just like us. Little did the three know that F.B.I. Chas promised to return to pick them up in another car after dropping the minivan off at his moms house. For added anonymity, Warren bleached his hair blond that night. I never intended to paint them and I resisted the idea but in the end I couldn't help but indulge the irony. He said his name was John. I think we all knew that we wanted something different, and we had to break away from where we were living. After several phone calls Warren managed to arrange a meeting in New York. And so I see Warren go back. They jump in the van and peel out around the loop.. Phase 2 involves the actual theft, and begins when Spencer takes his position at an upper-floor window of the nearby athletic center, where he will be on lookout. And then they came up with the issue of getting these appraised. Attempting perfection in writing a business plan will only lead to one end result: the business plan will never be written. (Because Spencer was a Transy student, he risked being recognized in the library.) By early November the boys were selling fake IDs at a hundred dollars apiece, and had apparently branched out into more lucrative identity manipulations. Because this is so much bigger than anything weve done before, Eric says. Starting with a 1970s Pierre Cardin canary-yellow blazer that had belonged to his grandfather, he wore a dress shirt with an ostentatiously large collar and a gold silk scarf. But before long they were put to chase once again, this time by two local thugs. He also didnt have photos, photocopies, documentation, or even the slightest ability to intelligently discuss the books. His clumsy attempt to clear his name, in a no-holds-barred interview with BBC, Gabby Petitos Life WithAnd Death ByBrian Laundrie. They stuffed some of the smaller books Gooch had pulled out for them into their backpacks. By that point Warren, Eric, and Spencer knew for certain they were going down. During a meeting in the basement, Warren convinced the other two that they were going to need a fourth, principally to help haul the nearly 250 pounds in Audubon folios out of the library. Built over old tobacco fields in the 80s, they feature ponds with fountains, cookie-cutter brick Colonial houses, street names like Ironbridge Drive and Turnberry Lane, and regulations authorizing penalties for unkempt yards and tacky lawn Santas. The investigation of the Transy Book Heist came to an explosive end on the morning of February 11, 2005, as a SWAT unit broke down the front door of the yellow bungalow with a battering ram, blasting stun grenades throughout the building. 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. The meeting ended after 30 minutes, and Ms. Halloran escorted the two out, assuring them that shed be in touch after conferring with her superiors on the best way forward. Warren went up to the third floor to meet Gooch, while Eric waited downstairs for him to call. We figured, All right, well, now we just got what we thought would be impossible possibly taken care of, Spencer tells me. The whole operation would have to be completed by 12:30 P.M., as the boys say Chas needed to return the Dodge Caravan to his mother in time for her to sell it, and Spencer and Eric had to get to their final exams in sociology and tennis, respectively. The plan for the actual robbery sets out three distinct phases. 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. Now we cant ever go back there. So I kind of go, That would be pretty crazy, wouldn't it? He said, Yeah, that would be kind of crazy. I then said, You know, why don't you look into it more and we'll go from there? Just like very unofficial.. With each taking one end of the Audubons, they made their way to the staff-only elevator. 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. I see Warren and Eric bust out of the back door, Spencer says, describing what he saw unfold from his lookout position. He said, You do that and you are free then to give them to us when you can. O.K., great. The books were much heavier than the boys had projected, and the pair could handle only three at a time. But even at that point, it became apparent that Warren and Spencer wouldnt be able to pull it off alone. He was told to look for a bearded, heavyset man in a solid-blue sweater. Writing from walter.beckman@yahoo.com, Warren sent B. J. Gooch an e-mail confirming Beckmans December 16 appointment at the Rare Book Room to view the Audubons and a few other items. They went back up in the elevator, accidentally stopping on the main floor, where they were spotted by another librarian. So we ate at Pazzo's pizza pub. 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