A quick thinking thief is hiding out in the US after he swiped a bucket filled with gold flakes.

He stole the bucket, weighing 86lbs and worth $1.6million (£1.28million) from the back of an armoured truck in Manhattan.

He struck while the guard’s back was turned to get his mobile phone on September 29.

The incident occurred in broad daylight on West 48th Street in Midtown Manhattan.

Security video shows the black bucket on a pallet inside the open back door of the truck. The man looks around, approaches the truck and lifts the bucket out.

Two men are standing on the sidewalk beside the truck, engaged in animated conversation, and don’t appear to notice the man with the bucket walking past them.

Lots of other pedestrians and vehicles stream past as he heads down the sidewalk with one arm wrapped around the bucket and his other hand beneath it.

At one point, he sets it down at the curb, takes a breather for a few seconds, then hoists it again and steps into the street.

Police say it took the thief an hour to complete what would normally be considered a 10-minute walk. He then hopped into a white van and fled.

Police say the suspect likely didn’t know what the bucket contained.

The suspect is believed to be hiding out in Florida.

Source:
courtesy of METRO

by Richard Hartley-Parkinson

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