Stealing Millions as Teenage Art Thieves | Fakes, Frauds & Scammers

Chas Allen was one of four 19-year-old college students who carried out one of the most audacious art heists in U.S. history.
Their target: The Transylvania University Private Collections Museum -- home to a collection of some of the most valuable rare books and paintings in the world, including Charles Darwin’s On The Origin of Species. If successful, the theft would make each of the students a fortune.
As part of the plan (inspired by heist movies) each of the four students took on separate responsibilities:  One created aliases and backstories to contact the library and auction houses. Another created false documents and disguises to make the group look like old men.
With Allen as a get-away driver, the students managed to get away with a number of items... But a series of stupid mistakes would lead to their downfall.
In a series of candid interviews, Fakes, Frauds & Scammers relives some of the most audacious scams and fraudulent stunts of our time from the mouths of the perpetrators themselves. Whether it’s money, fame or simply an addiction to lying, we find out what motivated these tricksters and whether the highs, lows and ramifications were worth it in the end.
Check out the VICE World News playlist for global reporting you won't find elsewhere: • World News
Watch more like this:
How I Stole $2.8M as a Teenager
• How I Stole $2.8M as a...
How We Staged a UFO Hoax
• How We Staged a UFO Ho...
My Wife Hired a Hitman So I Faked My Death
• My Wife Hired a Hitman...
Click here to subscribe to VICE: bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE
About VICE:
The Definitive Guide To Enlightening Information. From every corner of the planet, our immersive, caustic, ground-breaking and often bizarre stories have changed the way people think about culture, crime, art, parties, fashion, protest, the internet and other subjects that don't even have names yet. Browse the growing library and discover corners of the world you never knew existed. Welcome to VICE.
Connect with VICE:
Check out our full video catalog: bit.ly/VICE-Videos
Videos, daily editorial and more: vice.com
More videos from the VICE network: www. vicevideo
Click here to get the best of VICE daily: bit.ly/1SquZ6v
Like VICE on Facebook: vice
Follow VICE on Twitter: / vice
Follow us on Instagram: / vice
The VICE KZbin Network:
VICE: / vice
MUNCHIES: / munchies
VICE News: / vicenews
VICELAND: / vicelandtv
Broadly: / broadly
Noisey: / noisey
Motherboard: / motherboardtv
VICE Sports: / noc
i-D: / idmagazine
Waypoint: / waypointvice

[@ToastyAnalog896]

I love the part where he says "we were each going through tumultuous times" while a slideshow of the four of them in a limousine plays.

[@nadiradutt8470]

PROBABLY HIGH READY TO PARTY THIS IS HILARIOUS THOUGH

[@TombRaider666]

Right 😂😂😂

[@AtheniaMaria]

Not even I mean they even had the money to go to college when a lot of people don’t even get that opportunity

[@kwonn1366]

@@AtheniaMaria exactly. Like wth was yall going through

[@snooganslestat2030]

​@@kwonn1366 Maybe daddy cut their allowance from $15k to $10k?!

[@jmars]

Meanwhile my cousin did 5 years at the the age of 22 for weed. Sick of these type of crimes being highlighted.

[@Saia_xx]

This video made me so mad

[@patrick1992]

With 21 you are a adult so it's a difference to 19... How much weed and in the us or where?

[@thrasher3236]

@@patrick1992 ?? You are an adult at the age of 18 and yeah smoking weed vs stealing 12 million dollars of property and pointing a gun at an FBI agent

[@simontan5295]

@@thrasher3236 priors and background is taken into account as well. If you have a strong family background to facilitate your rehabilitation is another factor too and how good your lawyers are too. Just having a stun gun is not intent to kill vs burglary with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, in court they would of argued he didn't know it was the fbi and dropped the weapon as soon as he knew.

[@abdulrahmanyoussef5820]

@@simontan5295 my friend got 3 years for carrying an un registered gun. He had a clean record before he got arrested. Stop making excuses only reason why his charge was cause he’s white. If he was black he would’ve served at least 25 years in prison minimum

[@mrmo8174]

They’re free now to tell their story on TV shows and have audiences laughing at them like it’s cute. Privilege at its finest.

[@adlifiruz808]

Fr

[@O.A.F_B.A.S.E]

Fr...who points a gun at a cop and gets to tell the story about???

[@holeefuk413]

It's great isn't it

[@rashad123us]

He pointed a god damn gun at an FBI agent’s face, nuts.

[@kellym.6777]

My thought exactly.

[@jamesong.a.7695]

Sentenced to 7 years in a comfy minimum security federal prison, out after 5, now only 24 years old getting to capitalize on their notoriety by doing nationally televised interviews and signing a book deal, all for being dumb AF. I have a hard time believing it would be the same if they were 4 low income black kids, a very hard time. And I’m no liberal.

[@AA-bn3pm]

No just stupid

[@johnlenz420]

true but props to the boys for being clever about their theivery. so many stupid liquor store robberies where u walk out of there with 247 bucks, as much whiskey as u can carry (not enough) and a bullet in u

[@cormoran_strike]

At least it's legal.

[@REVIVERAJA]

ON GOD

[@jamesong.a.7695]

@@cormoran_strike my point wasn’t whether or not it’s legal, it’s that if it were 4 black kids they wouldn’t be out so soon and laughing about it on some nationally televised talk show..

[@thatguy5801]

"We were kids, we were 19 years old" Meanwhile some 13 year old's get charged as adults and sent to prison for life for much less.

[@LaurenOpara101]

Didn’t you know white men are allowed to be kids until 40 give or take 10 years

[@Saia_xx]

@@thatguy5801 cause it’s all about race here in America

[@blicce9597]

That’s completely untrue. You act as if 13 year olds are being tried as adults at the masses, and sent to prison for having a dime sack on them. They stole books, and did 7 years no real violence ever occurred. It is what it is.

[@thatguy5801]

@@blicce9597 No, They broke and entered Trespassed Assaulted the librarian with a weapon (stun gun) kidnapped librarian (tied her up) Stole incredibly rare books And all of it was premeditated and planned. Not just "stole books" 13 year old do get charged as adults in America ALL THE TIME, that would never happen here in Canada. Only the USA is messed up like that. In Canada you would be sent to juveniles prison something you rarely see in the USA.

[@blicce9597]

@@thatguy5801There are only about 11 or so states in the U.S where a 13 year old in juvie could ever get transferred to adult court and tried as an adult and sent to prison. (And most of the time the only just cause to do this transfer and try them as an adult is for grape or murder). So to suggest that something happens “all the time”, when only 11 or so states would have a legal right to try them as adults is ludicrous and disingenuous. Only under extreme circumstances would a 13 year old get sent to prison.

[@forbesxsab4468]

They stole from a library, tried to sell the stolen items to a legitimate auction house, and then kept the books in their house. Reward for dumbest criminals goes to….

[@oourdumb]

He ended up on Megan Kelly and everyone loves them, they can easily make money just from public appearances and writing a bs book about the heist themselves, you sure about that dumb part?

[@ATX512thatguy]

Shocking these guys got such a light sentence they’re now profiting from it and being treated like celebrities on tv. What a joke.

[@beatpeace879]

Well at least it paid off. 😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@beatpeace879]

They made a movie it was called American animals and I just literally finished watching it now, this is how I got to this channel wanting to find out what they’re doing now. You are right it is a joke that they’re making money out of this and the justice system is letting it happened

[@beatpeace879]

I was dumb and stupid when I was young but not that dumb and stupid 😂😂😂😂

[@bobbylawsen9638]

My thoughts exactly.

[@Lilc-hm2uv]

"Life was tough" he said as they all were taking pictures in their wolf of wall street cashmere overcoat ... you can't make this up!

[@nussnougat5462]

I thought exactly that hahaha. His uncle probably decline him a job in his law firm or something

[@andyginterblues2961]

Wait... they stole a copy of "Origin of the Species", and immediately attempted to fence it at Christie's? And thought that they could get away with it? And were immediately caught? If that isn't a sterling example of Darwinism in action, Idk what is. The sheer irony.

[@xLazarusEnvy]

Forreal hahah I lost it at the "Christies was the ticket home" like they wouldnt think a copy of a book by Darwin, after just being stolen is being sold? Ridiculously hilarious haha, like they dont have lists of stolen high priority things like literature or art.

[@lucasbiaggini]

Well, they're all still alive and able to reproduce, so not really an example of natural selection.

[@schiros123]

Best comment ever.

[@jedimindtrix2142]

Yea...I mean. It's an example of kids being extremely detached from reality and stupid. Honestly the dude talking seems pretty smart. He made a huge mistake and paid for it with 7 years of his life. I have spent about 115 days of my life either in jail or in a facility in which I could not leave if I wanted to. A meager amount compared to that. I have PTSD of sorts related to that experience. So don't think 7 years is a cake walk. He knew the moment it started it was a bad idea. He just was young and didn't want to let his friends down.

[@djnato10]

Of all places it's kept in Kentucky too. One of the most religious states in all of America has one of the most iconic pro evolution books. Double irony here.

[@pixpusha]

Most of us just dismiss that one friend's crazy ideas.

[@jamesbond4810]

Well these four took it seriously.

[@vikkorheel9966]

Yeah man

[@DoobieKeebler]

"Broooo! You know all that rare and expensive art I keep learning about?" "Theres rare art, man?!" "Totally, man! And we could just, like, steal it and become millionaires and stick it to our dads!" "Bro, f%&# my dad!" "F*ck my dad too, man..."

[@jamesmc4249]

@@DoobieKeebler *hits blunt* bro let's go steal those books

[@DoobieKeebler]

@@jamesmc4249 *hits blunt* "Its gonna be so savage man. Just like 'Oceans 11!' But not like 'Oceans 8,' that one sucked."

[@WVURxMan]

I feel like if me and my friends did this, we'd be in jail for 20 years, the one of us pointing a gun at the SWAT team would be dead, and nobody would give a single damn about it. Infuriating the privlidge some people inexplicably get.

[@desihay22]

🎯

[@timotheetessier1058]

For real this is gross to watch I can’t finish it , VICE needs to do better like 8-10 years ago

[@paulfletcher3998]

@WVURxMan. Isn't that the truth.

[@KingBanter]

7 years for tasering and tying up an innocent female civilian, stealing millions of dollars worth of historical national treasures. Driving the wrong way up streets, at high speed through red lights and stop signs.. then pointing a gun a a swat cops face. While some dude gets 20 years for having a half ounce of coke. Seems about right. You know I’m no angel . I’ve no problem with any of it except for the librarian. If that was your mom or wife you’d want them in prison for 25

[@RoyRagn]

It makes no difference who the librarian was !! Relative or not - they deserved serious sentences

[@Productions-uu1ut]

I feel like they are Jewish thats why they got a slap on the wrist

[@thealternative9580]

@@RoyRagn7 years is serious. If they had clean records before that helps as they were on the “right” path and made a stupid mistake after watching one too many heist flicks.

[@rebeccacampbell8020]

7 years is a LONG time. I look back at my mindset when I was 19….what an idiot. They really were just getting out of kid stage, which is very clear by looking at how they studied for the heist. Movies! I feel that their punishment was perfect, and the guy they interviewed seems like he learned a lesson.

[@jackk5878]

*Steals millions of dollars worth of artifacts* "Classic Chaz!..."

[@greasemonkey060]

High school reunion is gonna be great or everyone is sick of the story

[@miaares]

It's so hard to watch this because you know that if these people weren't four white male middle class college students they would never be talking about what they did on a talk show like it's a funny anecdote.

[@Daazeee]

I hate to agree but Yeah lol I can’t see this happening for anyone else

[@Martin16707]

It’s very true and very sad

[@paxton_6569]

Always gotta pull the race card because you know nothing else 😂 all any of you ever have to say

[@Martin16707]

@@paxton_6569y’all always gotta pull the “always gotta pull the race card” because y’all got nothing else to say and because y’all know it’s the truth, racism

[@miaares]

@@paxton_6569 alright edgelord settle down

[@90najay]

Is it not troubling that these adults reckless actions are being glorified and not denounced?! If this isn't the most concrete evidence of white privilege then I don't know what is.

[@Nickname006]

Completely agree as a white person from northern Europe. This video is embarrassing. They are treated as some celebrities with the "boys will be boys" attitude.

[@syrea793]

Absolutely! I was just wondering what would happen if they had been black?

[@_Junkers]

Who is Big Herc? Maybe you'd like to reflect on your own bias

[@davidgalea6113]

Your comment is woke garbage.

[@paxton_6569]

Always the black people saying this kind of thing is white privilege😂 if you think someone should get more than 5 years in jail for stealing a book you don’t deserve to live

[@kingchuks2586]

It's really sad and unfair how people end up serving 10 years In prison for piece of blunt and these guys are walking around freely even attending TV shows to tell their dumbest heist crime SMH American justice ⚖ is not fair 😢 😔 🤯🤯🤯🤯

[@Zxzoxopeneyes]

No one does 20yrs for a piece of a blunt wtf.....what are you talking about. Link something

[@kingchuks2586]

@@Zxzoxopeneyes well check Wikipedia

[@mclilzenthepoet2331]

@@Zxzoxopeneyes you either European or privileged

[@felixf4378]

@@mclilzenthepoet2331 that's an oxymoron.

[@juliusstriker4465]

no one does 10 years for a blunt

[@PHOENIX1699]

"For some reason, he didn't pull the trigger" Oh - we know why

[@jmathews470]

White.....right?

[@jaybuza3794]

@@jmathews470 you know, I hate to pull that card but…. White.

[@turtlepopper]

Shut up

[@haydndouglas4111]

We get it your a racist

[@jamesmc4249]

He put the gun down and gave himself up. That's good enough reason not to shoot.

[@DiegoC58]

“For whatever reason he didn’t that guy did not pull the trigger” How nice of them to be able to proudly talk about there crime

[@exxxxcellent]

The reason is "white" in your face

[@apeshitclothing]

Lol what? I'm not sure what your first sentence is saying. It's all jumbled

[@mm6461]

White privilege

[@AwokenEntertainment]

this is what happens when beginner criminals try to commit expert level crimes... 🤦‍♂️

[@blackdynamite3911]

This is a rub in the face fr.... how you aim a gun at the FBI and still live to talk about it And get out and laugh about it.... must be a great achievement 👏... fucking ridiculous 🙄

[@mayario]

*white privilege*

[@kerry1022]

I'm really surprised that no one had tried to steal the art before these guys. Doesn't seem like the stuff was really protected.

[@PresidentialWinner]

art theft is actually one of the easiest crimes, because of the fact that most art is mostly not protected very well. The theft is not hard, selling the goods is incredibly hard.

[@organizedchaos4559]

@@PresidentialWinner almost impossible, unless the buyer is just as crazy

[@ChickenManiac]

@@organizedchaos4559 You would be surprised, but your definitely not getting the full value of what you take.

[@ConsensusX]

Easily identifiable, everyone's looking for it, almost no one wants to buy it. Pretty much the worst thing a thief can steal. Unless they have a black market art broker lined up to buy it...

[@ChickenManiac]

@@ConsensusX People do buy stolen art, the thieves usually wait a long time before selling so there's less heat and wait to sell it.

[@princesstriceestar]

The amount of privilege in the telling of this story is baffling. Like how is crime something to do randomly.

[@loacc3672]

How is that guy not dead? How are they not still in jail? Sentencing/outcome disparities in this country are fucking insane!

[@laxx1559]

@@loacc3672 They're white, which is why he is still alive

[@loacc3672]

@@laxx1559 - Not just white. Middle-class white. That's why they're not still in prison too.

[@ConnorHolbrook419]

@@loacc3672 7 years is a pretty stock amount of time to do on an aggravated robbery. Atleast here in Ohio, many times people get less. My question is did they do time in Kentucky state prison system or was it Federal being that the FBI was involved and they crossed state lines

[@I-dont-reply]

Sounds like a bunch of jealous darker skinned folk in this fine comment section

[@TheBrianFlanagan]

“Gooch was stunned and tied up… …she realized that the library is being robbed!” I lol’d so hard. 🤣

[@SebastianTinajero]

I’m just glad the books are safe and did not end up being damaged,destroyed or lost by these idiots.

[@mma1st105]

Why would you do this at all but without a solid buyer? I'm sure these extremely rare books aren't the easiest things to get rid of. Especially Christi's auction. This is almost funny.

[@cr0wsnest]

That would require forethought beyond watching movies 😆

[@rstidman]

A lot of times a Gay heist like this is not subject to forethought

[@arthurias7693]

@@rstidman a Gay heist??

[@saxo689]

@@arthurias7693 probably meant day heist

[@loacc3672]

@@arthurias7693 - The library is named "J. Douglas Gay Jr. Library."

[@wallegg1499]

I’m surprised you were able to squeeze 10 minutes out of this story

[@Stormtrooper-oc4vn]

Watch the movie it's very good

[@Curegirl0023]

They made a movie, and it was a really good one.

[@joudalbaker5893]

yeah its called American Animals (2018)

[@TombRaider666]

Take a drink every time he says “19 years old”

[@funtertainment2128]

🤣🤣🤣🤣 tipsy

[@lv41anothr60]

let me get this right, these dudes were 19-20 years old, living in their houses already, plan and steal rare books for exchanging for more money. They used plans from TV shows to execute their plans. hmm...arrogant is right! They didn't realized they already had gifts given to them, and they wanted more w/o earning it, not even spending the proper time to become smart thieves.

[@Mr--_--M]

Wooooow....their lives were sooo tough growing up. They certainly....CERTAINLY had no other choice but to turn to a life of crime to make ends meet 🙄

[@jaybuza3794]

Gotta love people that haven’t actually gone through Anything horrible try something that most of us in the dirt are scared to try. Almost god damn ironic.

[@jroc8790]

You can only do crime if you come from malicious roots? Is that what your trying to say?

[@Mr--_--M]

@@jroc8790 Nope. Just my 1st thought after watching the video. Of course, why people do what they do is much more complex than that.

[@idhsts]

@@jroc8790 well if you have nothing you are definitely desperate.

[@wholesofparodox]

@@jroc8790 i think it's more the framing of his experience being so rough and the only thing he mentions was his parents divorce lol

[@orangewarm1]

With the right fence and the right organisation this would have been a great heist.

[@jmathews470]

Drop the s and add a z..... (Edited) I stand corrected, didn't know it was a British thing.

[@dengajing2015]

@@jmathews470 realise that the S was always there longtime ago before americans adapted the Z into it..its a british thing

[@jmathews470]

I stand corrected.

[@excusemymouth1832]

@@jmathews470 I always love when Americans try to be a grammar (or spelling) nazi when it's just the regular English spelling of a word. It's called "American-English" for a reason.

[@jmathews470]

@@excusemymouth1832 nazi??? Guess you can never be sure!

[@TacoStacks]

I better return that book I borrowed the other week...

[@samanthab1923]

Glad you’re reading

[@mjohnson1741]

If you're white you're fine.

[@joevelazquez1839]

This is privilege at its finest.

[@SgtCrypto]

Wonder if they were anything other than white, would they get the same treatment/sentence?

[@josepacman1]

@@SgtCrypto somehow I think you already know the answer to that

[@bigpeef5426]

Looool how stupid are his friends. "Let's take one of a kind stolen property linked to an ongoing case to a high class auction house, I won't give them my real name but they can have my real phone number. did I ever set up a voice mail? Awww whatever."

[@Simte]

*Looks around nervously while screenshoting NFTs.*

[@TNG_22]

😂

[@ConsensusX]

Delete those screenshots!! Do you know how much ETH I paid for those?!!!

[@THopkins44]

Interesting how these guys are getting the “star treatment” but people are still serving life in federal prison for cannabis

[@billybob4159]

Lol no

[@roni-oj4rr]

tf u talking abt nobody is serving life for weed

[@Balboa9191]

Chris said they got out with about 1 million worth. The agent said it was 7 million and the article said it was 12 million lol.

[@AveiroDan]

These guys are legends….. In their own minds. (Bunch of damn fools)

[@SuMeK41]

fools for getting caught

[@sababajwa8835]

@@SuMeK41 fools generally. Bad karma hellfire for them God sees all

[@joshualucas7690]

7 years wasn't long enough... if they were black those same "Normal College Boys" would've been facing Life in Prison.. smh sad how watered down and white washed this is..

[@johnpineapple1824]

Specifically with the gun situation, definitely a different ending if that youngster was black

[@se4949]

Debatable. I think regardless, in a perfect world this crime is not worth spending your entire life in a penitentiary

[@TA-ud5lf]

the trauma the librarian probs has and the clips of them talking abt their crime like it was nothing is crazy

[@rebeccacampbell8020]

After spending 7 years in prison, it probably was like nothing.

[@johnmcrosin1746]

Meanwhile a black male in the US is given a custodial sentence for cannabis possession, or killed by the police for selling loose cigarettes.... Upper middle class white young men! Not kids as they were constantly referred to in this piece, steal millions of dollars of books, pulls a gun on a swat team member and gets 7 years, and was probably out in 2-3. That's justice all right!

[@ATRTAP]

Life’s not fair huh?

[@sevendaysaweek2622]

Damn then why is my white cousin in jail for a weed charge 🤔

[@hanshallo4468]

@@sevendaysaweek2622 Because he's not in College

[@SurvivingAnotherDay]

Cry liberal tears

[@belletaunde102]

@@SurvivingAnotherDay and then you guys wonder why you don't have the black vote lmao.

[@jeremiahgarrick8117]

yes lets sell the millions in stollen books at a famous auction house

[@desmond-hawkins]

I don't think these were books about German Christmas cakes, I could be wrong though. Also these would have to be really great Stollen recipes to be worth millions.

[@xLazarusEnvy]

@@desmond-hawkins Died laughing at your reply hahaha

[@Eskii_NZL]

Dafaq a stollen? Looks like bro needs to steal some books 🤣

[@fungus_am0nguz644]

That guy that raised the gun on that SWAT dude sure was lucky. Those SWAT mfers dont play around, matter fact some are just itching for "action" not to defuse any situation.

[@maticvass3262]

The SWAT guy was probably white lol.

[@jmathews470]

Yes, like me.........finger on the trigger and a history of muscle spasms 🤣🤣

[@gruzin6714]

@@maticvass3262 yeah the SWAT guy was really thinking about this identity politics bullshit while having a gun pointed at him...

[@muhammad1347]

He wasn’t lucky, he is white.

[@muhammad1347]

@@gruzin6714 yes because police brutality on black people has never taken place in the US 🙄

[@Nomadsou]

i immediatly stopped watching when i saw them having a talk show in the first minute... Biggest heist and they're inviting them to talk about it? If they were black americans, they would still be in prison...

[@nik-at-nite]

When the officer said “for whatever reason” his guy didn’t shoot…like sir, you could’ve been dead for a botched heist job smh

[@muhammad1347]

He wasn’t black. That was the reason.

[@JoshPitts530]

If you feel underwater, that’s your conscience telling you to turn your life around.

[@whataregoodpasswords]

Exactly!....When the Holy Spirit says "Wake Up" and you decide to stay asleep!!

[@agginssawols6861]

Still better than screenshotting nft’s

[@aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa333]

🤣🤣

[@Jobe-13]

😂

[@aliciabun1867]

🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@joeishmael9217]

I was at that college when this happened. Sat beside Spencer in art class and he was insanely talented

[@meedee1326]

"For whatever reason my guy did not pull the trigger " I can guess why.

[@dondeigo9218]

If it was 4 black folk the same age with no records, i wonder if the same 7 year sentence would be handed down as part of a plea deal

[@rollysaibot2406]

Right!?

[@78firstclass]

Nope 25 to life

[@Jaedontplay720s]

@@78firstclass and the one that pointed the gun at the swat officer would have been shot multiple times

[@BAC-bm8em]

Snowboarding and skateboarding wasn’t enough of a adrenaline rush.

[@MezherA]

The biggest art heists are the ones not discovered yet 😁

[@mirzapa]

Moral of the story: you better have a buyer lined up before the heist. Going to Christies is just straight up amateur.

[@braveman1641]

5mins in, I'm already pissed

[@davelee4968]

Chaz’s teacher: You’d be better off pawning the Mona Lisa! Chaz *Takes It Literally*

[@tribal_huksta3094]

Dry

[@UNPOCOLOCO444]

Imagine

[@deanlongiii161]

These idiots could have completely got away with this. Using the same email to set appt with the librarian and set up with Christie's was literally the domino that brought their entire op down. So stupid.

[@TechHippie]

"Lexington is a small town" Bro there are full states with less people in it 😂You probably had more people in your graduating class than I have in my entire town. Can't take this guy seriously after that 'fact'. This was a publicity stunt to get attention, and Vice, you're just giving it to them again.

[@4y5vethgergtfdhb]

Thank you, I was coming here to say the same thing.

[@Zxzoxopeneyes]

Real.

[@konami1979]

I was going to say, a city of 320K residents is not a "small town."

[@jeffemory6615]

☆☆☆☆ oh no poor baby such a rough life in tough times...

[@eighterthabest9024]

They crossed state lines!??!??!? 😱😱😱😱 Thats the ultimate crime....apparently.

[@MarshallSmith27]

@@Stevie-J no thats not why. local authorities cannot cross county lines much less state lines. thats the reason the FBI exists. its a federal police force

[@organizedchaos4559]

@@MarshallSmith27 not really, they’re not a police force. Just an investigation force with arrest abilities.

[@MarshallSmith27]

@@organizedchaos4559 that was obvious. I was making it clear for everyone else. they do have the right to arrest you so in fact they are a police force

[@wickedzayyy]

to your precious federal government, yes it is

[@laxx1559]

Once the feds get involved it's over with. The penalties are much worse.

[@audreydupuy2628]

Damn 7 years.... that's a lot. I don't see why they're proud of their theft though, they didn't even remotely pull it off.

[@aceylaboy9773]

Question should have been asked is. What would it take to get money for those? Who’s gonna buy a stolen piece of art that everybody will have their minds set on. They were worse than when I hit car doors

[@phyrexiancoffee6324]

I remember hearing about this when I was in Elementary School, and did a report about it in High School. I'm from Louisville, KY so it was all over the news when it happened.

[@davelee4968]

Wow so thought out, Chaz!

[@justinreilly1]

They left out the best part. They tried to steal 4 first editions of Audubon Birds of America which are beyond enormous and weigh a total of literally 200, yes 200 pounds. It was too ungainly and heavy and they dropped them trying to get downstairs. The 4 Audubon books are worth $4.5M total. Origin of Species worth only $25K. And there was literally no security or alarm on the case, just a 50 year old librarian! Watch the movie American Animals which is great.

[@beefyiceman94]

Thank you for recommending that movie, just watched it, it was wild!

[@dfunckt]

I came to youtube to see if there was a better true crime video than that slow, boring movie, and this is it. There could have been some witty and comedic commentary in this video which would have made it better, but it does in less than 11 minutes what that movie tried to do.

[@lizzyg5398]

They didn't think of how suspicious it would be that there's been a robbery of rare books worth 1 million and then all of the sudden the same books were at auction??

[@colinr4860]

is there a douchier name in existence than "Chas"?

[@binkytube]

He also looks and sounds mentally challenged.

[@BlakeH97]

"And for whatever reason my guy did not pull the trigger" when breaking into someone's house at 6 o'clock in the morning waking the home owner out of a dead sleep. And they're thankful the Police didn't shoot? They should be thankful they weren't shot?!

[@olskoolbkbk316]

Sounds like unfiltered privilege

[@binkytube]

He also looks and sounds mentally challenged.

[@findtruth5329]

I love this! It goes to show how many people are only separated from hell because they haven't died as yet.

[@Iexapro]

“For some reason he didn’t pull the trigger” uh you broke into someone’s house at 5am… just goes to show that cops do not think the way they serve these warrants is wrong. they’d do the same thing if someone busted through their door at that hour.

[@panier66]

A no-knock warrant for an art thief. This is bad.

[@dunkcsa9780]

Omg Snatch is still one of my favorite movies. Some of the best quotes of all time, I love it every bit as much today as when it first came out. This was my go-to movie to put on the screen in my car when I was riding around town, ahh such good times...

[@OneMwataK]

"for some reason my guy did not pull the trigger". Had Chas been D'Marcus, poor D'Marcus would be dead

[@ChrisCoombes]

Would have enjoyed seeing interviews with the parents.

[@xLazarusEnvy]

assuming they likely declined hahaha

[@ChrisCoombes]

@@xLazarusEnvy I’d have been impressed if they had though - to show a bit of accountability.

[@pelin441]

Watch American Animals

[@ChrisCoombes]

@@pelin441 thanks! Hadn’t heard of it, found this review kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y5_GanSrq7CMaM0

[@betsy9822]

This man has no remorse

[@binkytube]

I think he's mentally challenged.

[@Mattie_LIGHT]

They all probably work for institutional banks now, lol

[@phtevenchevas3960]

One of the consequences of watching too many movies. It's impossible to steal something that people collect, it's called provenance. Once a well known work of art is stolen, the community spreads the word, and it has no value, it's labeled as stolen and the provenance is gone. The only people that might have bought it would be a Russian oligarch or the supreme leader of North Korea. Anybody reading this.....don't get any bright ideas.

[@davidgalea6113]

im glad you added "don't get any bright ideas" because I was just about to use your expert insider knowledge and steal the monalisa. thank god for your comment.

[@phtevenchevas3960]

@@davidgalea6113 too funny!

[@ramsnation196]

@@phtevenchevas3960 ignore the sarcastic prick, I actually didnt know about the provenance part thank you

[@markmoulin9009]

American Animals. Great telling of this story. Amazing performance from Evan Peters

[@shadow.banned]

Definitely don't steal art from your own school. You can't just sell one of a kind books.

[@Koshkinayekaterina]

You actually can

[@elijahgavin6706]

You need to have a high profile black market buyer lined up, ideally with encrypted communications. Something these kids never would have had access to

[@GotDuhka]

Another reason no-knock warrants are a bad idea. Lucky nobody was killed or injured.

[@tommym321]

Cops love to play soldier. They get to don all that neat gear.

[@Nicko-ir2to]

Why are they not in jail 🤷🏽‍♂️

[@Sinaqval]

White

[@jabe6935]

I hate to pull the race card here but I can’t imagine if me and my friends stole millions worth of art , regardless of the outcome, we wouldn’t get to make jokes with an audience on a talk show..

[@natemedeiros60]

That exactly what I was thinking. Let them be brown and it's over. Sad

[@kierentaylor]

It’s called white privilege.

[@MixologistMilo]

You’d be telling stories to your permanent inmate in your cell

[@houseplant1016]

Only 7 years and not being shot while you point a gun at a SWAT officer? Indeed, too much coincidence.

[@foreversocal1]

why not? there's no systemic racism in the u.s. *sarcasm

[@1smoky85]

Never heard of a 19 yr old kid wtf

[@rsantos7051]

His mind they're still in HS but he's a full time college student and should know better lol.

[@helderalmeida2790]

And people say shooting games doesn't influence kids to get a gun and do the same. If this guy watched a heist movie to get inspiration so too games has the power to influence your behaviour.

[@4bd1f1q0]

"i was angry, my parents went through divorce" so that justifies this? lmaoooo

[@iivv_nn]

LOL, your only 19 and a teenager if youre white. If youre black or brown you're an adult ad get the maximum senteance.

[@X2LR8]

No if black or brown you don't even get arrested. You don't even get arrested.

[@zem43]

What world are you living in?

[@jamesmc4249]

@@zem43 chicago

[@roxanavenegas7009]

I mean your not wrong it's sad

[@bodegaboy3106]

LOL criminals get to be interviewed by Meagan Kelly with such enthusiasm, and can even point guns at cops! GOD FORBID these were 4 "super predators" then the narrative definitely would have been different LOL.

[@keshawnstanford9458]

That part

[@Nostalgiababy]

This !!

[@Chloe-cg5ez]

“For whatever reason, my guy didn’t pull the trigger”......yeah like we don’t know the real reason 🙄

[@seanolson7602]

"For whatever reason my guy didn't pull the trigger" SIR we all know the reason why he didn't pull the trigger

[@chucklesmolly88]

They pulled off every childhood dream to commit a crime with their best friends

[@colechapman6976]

speak for yourself, not every child dreams of committing a crime!

[@moneymello3359]

Paint them BLACK!!!!… then …. Run the whole story back! 🤦🏾‍♂️🤦🏾‍♂️🤦🏾‍♂️ they get less time for snitching!🤷🏾‍♂️

[@ENESPUBGHESAP]

continuously helped me like you have. I thank God for your presence in my life. Thanks a lot!!!

[@hakanaral]

The work he does is so vital the world needs more people like you lust love the podcast so you put up I love hearing these scammers squirm keep up the good work, it takes good hearted individuals the gutts to do this instead. There should be whole government department buildings filled with *mystery planet org* on the internet doing stuff like this to protect and serve its own scammed civilians. That would be tax money well spent.

[@goldenwheeledbanshee9160]

How greed will get u caught every time. Been lucky 2 have gotten 200.000 but they wanted 7.000.000. Rich spoiled kid's.

[@leweegiggles]

The film about this "American animals" was excellent in my opinion. It's a mix of interview material from the real guys and a very well acted reconstruction of the whole story

[@traviscoates6878]

It was pretty decent...

[@_khaliboss]

I was about to say that 🔥👍🏼

[@haleyjo9154]

just watched and i love evan peters so pleased to say he didn't disapoint

[@_khaliboss]

@@haleyjo9154 Ikr 🤯

[@crextor]

Was looking for this comment

[@rassingaming8845]

I knew not to take what this guy says for granted when he said lexington was a “small town”

[@polemius01]

AFTER being bound and masked, the librarian "immediately" realized that a robbery was taken place??!! What tipped her off? The kids were pretty dumb in thinking that Christies would serve as a fence!

[@JesusChrist2000BC]

Charles Allen got a strong eye brow technician. Hope she gets paid well.

[@dylanb2086]

The amount of dumb mistakes it took for them to get caught - tempts me to go rob an art gallery

[@ROT4RYfc3s]

They're still coming off as cocky even though they're idiots who got caught and expected to be able to easily sell all that stolen art.

[@kmarie0823]

"for whatever reason my guy did not pull the trigger" lmao we all know the reason.