Who do we trust?. All four were brought to Lexington police headquarters and individually interrogated by F.B.I. Ultimately, upon release, his art career has flourished. He focused above all on painting, gaining admission into a prestigious Lexington arts program. And so I see Warren go back. They jump in the van and peel out around the loop.. 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. So we ate at Pazzos pizza pub. The plan for the actual robbery sets out three distinct phases. Spencer was born in 1984 in Lexington Kentucky. In early February 2005, the F.B.I. By early November the boys were selling fake IDs at a hundred dollars apiece, and had apparently branched out into more lucrative identity manipulations. They think we have [the books]. 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. What they would tell me, then, is their version of eventsand the only complete account of the planning, execution, and aftermath of the heist. But after stewing in the magnitude of the potential dollar amount involved, and once convinced of the ease of the heist, the logic of the appraisal, and the legitimacy of Warrens Amsterdam connections, they say, he threw his lot in with the others. I want to say living that kind of lifethe country clubs, sitting in a classroom and listening to two girls argue about turning down a BMW S.U.V. Um. Spencer received a commission to paint murals at a local school and kept up his soccer training, Eric started a lawn-care business with his friend Chas Allen, and Warren landed a job at a local day camp. The press invariably described them as good boys from good familiesupper-middle-class kids afforded every opportunity, the ones with the most to lose. Can't have any of this documented. It is more important to get a plan down, as flawed as it may be, and then continue to work on it as the entrepreneur would work on their business over time. If we got away with it, wed be in Europe living this crazy life thinking we were Oceans 11 types. By far the most common theory around town was that the heist had been just a frat prank that spun way out of control. 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. Two months later, amid a local media frenzy, the four formally pleaded guilty to all six federal charges, including theft of cultural artifacts from a public museum and interstate transportation of stolen property. All four, now 22, children of privilege, products of elite Lexington high schools, are serving seven-year sentences for their parts in the crime. Now the hard partwe have to steal them. I was nervous. 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. But after stewing in the magnitude of the potential dollar amount involved, and once convinced of the ease of the heist, the logic of the appraisal, and the legitimacy of Warren's Amsterdam connections, they say, he threw his lot in with the others. He was told to look for a bearded, heavyset man in a solid-blue sweater. The Lexington Police Departments commercial-burglary squad was assigned to the case. He topped off his new living quarters with the last of his worldly belongings: a large-screen television, a DVD player, and a Sony PlayStation. Chas turned the G.T.A.V. Eric Borsuk, Spencer Reinhard, Charles 'Chas' Allen IIand Warren Lipka hatched a grand plan to steal rare books from their uni library Credit: KKYT. I think we all knew that we wanted something different, and we had to break away from where we were living. Get the latest chatter, from Kensington Palace and beyond, straight to your inbox. As they took their seats in the conference room, Warren explained that he and Mr. Stephens are the sole representatives of Walter Beckman, whom he described as a very private individual from Boston who had recently inherited several valuable rare books and manuscripts. Abstraction allows me to explore multiple paths of my creative desire. We told B.J. So we go back to the guy in Lexington and we say, Listen, we want to go somewhere, we want to go out of the country, and we need documentation, Warren explains. They were skeptical, Warren recalls. I see Warren and Eric bust out of the back door, Spencer says, describing what he saw unfold from his lookout position. He looked like he was dressed from a thrift store, Halloran told the agents. Phase 2 ends when the loot is loaded into the G.T.A.V. (Big Warren declined to comment on the gambling accusations at the time.) The fourth, Charles Chas Allen II, had been transferred to a federal medical center in Lexington.) Spencer believed it was an insurmountable problem. The L.P.D. 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. The plan for the actual robbery sets out three distinct phases. Although the two hadn't really been in contact in the first few months of school, Warren knew that Spencer's artistic talents would be an asset. 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. We spoke about his paintings, especially A Plan to Fail. After researching auction houses online, Warren singled out Christie's in New York. Once Warren had pulled the cap over Gooch's eyes, the two laid a bedsheet on the ground and began piling on the seven Audubon folios they intended to steal (the four-volume Birds of America plus three volumes from another Audubon series). Among them was the 2002 photo from the Lexington Herald-Leader of Spencer and Warren playing soccer. (Throughout the interviews with the three, it became clear that Chas was the odd man out among the group. In fact, wedged in their backpacks was nearly three-quarters of a million dollars worth of books and manuscripts: an 1859 first edition of Charles Darwins On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection ($25,000), an illuminated manuscript from 1425 ($200,000), a set of the two-volume 15th-century horticultural masterpiece entitled Hortus Sanitatis ($450,000), 20 original Audubon pencil drawings ($50,000), and Audubons A Synopsis of the Birds of North America ($10,000). . By that point Warren, Eric, and Spencer knew for certain they were going down. The painting, in digital form, would become a popular screen saver on the F.B.I. He also didnt have photos, photocopies, documentation, or even the slightest ability to intelligently discuss the books. He said his name was John. The actor thanked his fans for all their kind words. I'm not sure, but it was a lot. All four were brought to Lexington police headquarters and individually interrogated by F.B.I. 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. They also noticed a group of people lingering in the Rare Book Room. Vanity Fair may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. When Warren arrived, he saw a man fitting that description seated with three other men. The painting is a kaleidoscope of images, including what appears to be a computer, a cell phone, a bong, the Transylvania library, and loose sheets of notepaper, floating above a desiccated one-eyed young man in a watch cap, kicking back on a beat-up couch with a blue dog on his lap. He thought he was much better than everybody else, and he got to the point where he wasnt like us. It had some tennis trivia in there that I wasn't expecting.. Before, in college, growing up, we were being funneled into this mundane, nickel-and-dime existence. 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. Serving a seven-year prison sentence following his involvement in a notorious heist (portrayed in the film American Animals), Spencer Reinhard was committed to not losing the best years of his life. He turned to his own art, determined to refine his craft and technique. Spencer assembled his outfit with even greater care. More important, the basement was secluded. [Beckman] said, B.J., a nickname her friends and colleagues used for her, she told officers. From the facts that were available, it appeared that a team of four men, described as Caucasian, in their 20s, had stolen some of the most prized books and manuscripts in the university's collection, and attacked a librarian in the process. They jump in the van and peel out around the loop.. After several phone calls Warren managed to arrange a meeting in New York. As they took their seats in the conference room, Warren explained that he and Mr. Stephens are the sole representatives of Walter Beckman, whom he described as a very private individual from Boston who had recently inherited several valuable rare books and manuscripts. A few minutes later, a short, dark-haired young man, also dressed in a winter coat, cap, and gloves, entered the library. A 20-man task force of Lexington police and F.B.I. for a second vehicle at a secret location, which, according to Warrens plan, is used to transport team and loot to temporary resting place. After the heist, since it is certain that the stolen books will be entered into art-theft databases within a week, they have to get the books appraised at Christies in New York immediately. As a precautionary measure, they left the books in the car. still young, Warren says. Like Barry, the men were immediately put off by Warren's youth, and even more so by the fact that he hadn't brought any of the books with him to Amsterdam. The next morning, all nerves, he left for the meeting site, a caf within walking distance. I see Warren and Eric bust out of the back door, Spencer says, describing what he saw unfold from his lookout position. Spencer called himself Mr. Stephens. 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. They went back up in the elevator, accidentally stopping on the main floor, where they were spotted by another librarian. Ad Choices. 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. Indeed one might consider these years to be a catalyst with which he could find his unique vision. We did the robbery as a way to escape, Eric says. In between soccer practice, classes, painting, and studying, Spencer drew detailed sketches of the inside of the Special Collections Library and the adjacent Rare Book Room, making several appointments with the Special Collections librarian, Betty Jean Gooch, to scout the premises. a plan to fail painting reinhard. you know, it's. it was. 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. Warren, under an alias, would make an appointment with Gooch for that afternoon to view the books they wanted to steal. Waiting for the law to snatch them was nerve-racking, but they went on with their lives as if nothing had been amiss. As she was heading toward a display case, Gooch felt a tingling on her right arm and collapsed to the floor. American Animals brings to the silver screen the story of the Transy Book Heist of 2004, where four students tried to steal $12 million worth of arts and books from the Special Collections Library . It was only a tennis final, Eric says, but that final that day was actually harder than I thought it was going to be. 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. In fact, wedged in their backpacks was nearly three-quarters of a million dollars' worth of books and manuscripts: an 1859 first edition of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection ($25,000), an illuminated manuscript from 1425 ($200,000), a set of the two-volume 15th-century horticultural masterpiece entitled Hortus Sanitatis ($450,000), 20 original Audubon pencil drawings ($50,000), and Audubon's A Synopsis of the Birds of North America ($10,000). Then, everything becomes meta. After several phone calls Warren managed to arrange a meeting in New York. After a short wait, a young Christie's employee, Melanie Halloran, came out to apologize, as Mr. Leckey, due to an impending public auction, would be unable to see them. . According to the revised plan, they would ditch the old-man disguises and only Warren and Eric would enter the library. When an agent called, he got a voice-mail recording, This is Spence. Faced with overwhelming evidence, they all eventually confessed. agent discovered the stolen books, all undamaged, as well as the five-page typed plan for the heist, an accounting ledger, wigs, instructions for opening a Swiss bank account, and stun guns, which had apparently arrived after the robbery. believing that they had escaped with next to nothing. The truth is, but for one obvious, big mistakethe trip to Christie'sthey probably would have gotten away with it, a Lexington police detective told me. Because their campuses were only a mile apart, they assumed they would stay close, but as with most freshmen, their assured identities and easy expectations muddied once they hit campus. For Spencer it all started with a series of mild disappointments. Though they attended different high schools, both were varsity captains, and both made all-state. Fuck Biden, Dont Tread on Me, and a Wisconsin Death Trip for Our Times. [Beckman] said, B.J., a nickname her friends and colleagues used for her, she told officers. The two men followed the librarian into the Rare Book Room, and John closed the door behind them. The two boys sought cover from the cops in the sprawling grounds of the housing projects. When they arrived on campus in the replacement G.T.A.V., they couldn't find a parking space anywhere near the library. After a quick powwow in the stacks, the conspirators decided to abort the mission for the time being and retreated to the bungalow. 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