New York City Police Identify Suspect in Theft of $1.6M Pot of Gold
The pail was filled with 86 pounds of gold flakes, worth about $1.6 million.
— -- Police have identified the man who they say stole a real-life pot of gold from an armored truck in New York City.
The New York City Police Department said 53-year-old Julio Nivelo, also known as David Vargas, snatched a 5-gallon aluminum bucket filled with 86 pounds of gold flakes from the back of an armored truck in midtown Manhattan at about 4:30 p.m. local time on Sept. 29. The pail's contents are worth an estimated $1.6 million, police said.
The alleged theft happened near the corner of Fifth Avenue and 48th Street, and it was captured on surveillance footage obtained by ABC News. The suspect can be seen lifting the bucket from the parked truck in broad daylight and fleeing east on foot with the stolen treasure. There were no reported injuries as a result of the incident, police said.
The suspect is believed to be in Los Angeles, according to a news release from the NYPD on Tuesday.
Anyone with information on the alleged theft is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline, at 800-577-TIPS or 888-57-PISTA (for Spanish). All calls are kept strictly confidential. The public can also submit tips via the Crime Stoppers website, at www.nypdcrimestoppers.com, or by texting 274637(CRIMES) and entering TIP577.
ABC News' Aaron Katersky and Avianne Tan contributed to this report.
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