B’WAY ‘GUN PLAY’
‘Lion King’ staff bust
Things weren’t very
hakuna matata at Broadway’s iconic “The Lion King” on Friday afternoon, when cops stormed the theater to arrest a props worker for allegedly trying to make a gun with a 3D printer, The Post has learned.
Cops from the Midtown South precinct arrived at the Minskoff Theatre on West 45th Street at 12:30 p.m., and went backstage to collect Ilya Vett, 47, the assistant supervisor for the prop department.
Vett, of Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn, was in the midst of 3D printing “a hard black plastic object which, based on my training and experience, is shaped like a revolver,” a cop swore in the criminal complaint against Vett.
“I brought the 3D printer in [to the theater] from my workshop because my workshop is too dusty,” Vett told cops, according to the complaint.
“It’s mine . . . I was making the gun as a gift to my brother,” the complaint said he added.
“He lives upstate and has a firearms license,” Vett allegedly continued. “There’s a Web site that has plans for the gun. I downloaded the plans onto the SD card in the printer.”
Vett, who describes himself as a “puppet technician” on his LinkedIn page, was held overnight.
It was after 8 p.m. Saturday when he was finally arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court. Cops had thrown the book at him, initially charging him with criminal possession of a weapon and felony gun manufacture, sources told The Post.
Manhattan prosecutors reduced the charges, leaving Vett facing one count of attempted criminal possession of a firearm — which is still a felony, although at the lowest level. The charge carries anywhere from no jail to a maximum of four years in prison.
Vett admitted to also possessing an unloaded rifle at his home, a prosecutor said in court.
Released without bail, he broke into tears as he embraced his wife outside the courtroom. He declined to comment. Personnel at the Minskoff also declined to speak to a Post reporter.