Thief casually walks off with $1.6M bucket of gold in New York

NEW YORK, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- The New York Police Department released security camera footage of a man walking up to an armored truck and walking off with a $1.6 million bucket of gold.

The department released security camera footage this week of the Sept. 29 incident in midtown Manhattan, where the back of the truck had been left unattended while two men talked in front of the vehicle.

The video shows a man casually taking the 86-pound bucket of gold flakes from the back of the truck and casually walking away.

The man appears to struggle with the heavy bucket and takes frequent breaks -- traveling about a 10-minute distance in about an hour before getting into a van.

"I think he just saw an opportunity, took the pail and walked off," NYPD Detective Martin Pastor told WNBC-TV.

Police said the suspect is believed to have fled to Florida, possibly in the Miami or Orlando areas.