Bragged & bagged
Chanel heist bust after Web boast
A career criminal from Brooklyn has been nabbed for the brazen broad-daylight heist of a Soho Chanel store, officials said Monday — weeks after he allegedly bragged on social media about having enough luxury loot to “open a small boutique.”
Eric Spencer, 29, was arrested on robbery charges in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Saturday, according to Manhattan prosecutors.
Spencer and three cohorts are accused of snatching $189,500 worth of pricey goods from the swanky Spring Street shop on Feb. 2 (pictured), a criminal complaint said.
When a security guard confronted Spencer (inset), he barked, “What are you going to do? Shoot me?” before reaching into his waistband, where the handle of a gun was visible, according to the complaint.
“Nobody touch me!” he allegedly yelled. “Get everything! Grab everything!”
The next day, Spencer bragged on social media about pocketing so many “Double C” items that he could “open a small boutique,” according to the complaint.
He appeared in federal court in the Sunshine State at around 11:15 a.m. Monday and was ordered detained, according to a spokesman for the federal judicial district.
It wasn’t clear when Spencer — who has 32 prior arrests, including 15 felonies, according to law-enforcement sources — would be transferred to New York. The process could take a week or longer, the spokesman said.
The Chanel robbery was part of a pattern that began in September, involving mask-wearing thieves entering high-end stores to swipe items before fleeing in cars rented with fake IDs and bearing phony license plates. Three alleged accomplices are still on the loose.
FBI Assistant Director William F. Sweeney Jr. described the heist as a “violent takeover of a retail store.”
In a statement, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said the bust “highlights the importance of good investigative work and the continuing efforts of the FBI-NYPD Joint Major Theft Task Force.”
Spencer faces up to 20 years in prison, if convicted. Investigators are also eyeing him in connection to several other high-profile cases, sources said.