3 charged over stuffed animal heist at amusement park seen in Tom Hanks movie

NEW YORK – In the overnight darkness, a small boat stops on the Long Island Sound shoreline outside a New York amusement park whose century-long history includes a cameo turn in an early Tom Hanks movie hit.

Three young men climb out of the vessel, which has been taken without its owner’s permission from a Connecticut boat club, then hop a fence into the amusement park, called Playland Park, in Rye, New York.

What followed, according to county officials and as captured by security cameras, was a spree that inflicted US$57,000 (S$74,000) worth of damage and included the theft of 200 stuffed animals, which were hauled back to the boat in garbage bags for a watery getaway.

After the county police widely shared images of the suspects in an effort to identify them, tips started rolling in, officials said. One of the pictures made the three look like some floodlit combination of the Jersey Shore series cast and the Beastie Boys group.

On Nov 12, Connor Evancho, 20, of Pompton Lakes, New Jersey, became the third of three men to turn himself in to answer felony charges of burglary and criminal mischief, as well as misdemeanour counts of criminal trespass and petty larceny.

Like Daniel Bracco, 19, of Oakland, New Jersey, who had turned himself in on Nov 10 to face the same charges, and Anthony Conkling, 19, of Wyckoff, New Jersey, who had done the same last week, Evancho pleaded not guilty at an arraignment in Rye City Court and was released without bail.

All three men are scheduled to return to court later in November, records show.

Mr Michael Frederick Keese, a lawyer for Evancho, declined to comment on the specifics of the charges against his client.

“It’s a serious case, and he understands that,” Mr Keese said. “We will try to move towards a good resolution.”

Lawyers for Bracco and Conkling did not respond to phone messages seeking comment.

Built in 1928 and owned by Westchester County, Playland is a popular destination for local residents drawn by its waterfront setting and classic mix of rides, games, shows and snacks. It was used as a location in the 1988 movie Big, in which actor Hanks starred as a temporarily adult-size version of a teenage boy.

According to court documents, Evancho, Bracco and Conkling landed on the shore outside Playland just before midnight on Sept 23 and left about 1½ hours later.

While at the park, the documents say, the three tried unsuccessfully to throw a photo booth over a fence and off the boardwalk; vandalised an electrical room by cutting or tearing out fibre-optic cables used for phone and internet service; and stole 200 plush animal toys.

Officials estimated the damage to the electrical room at US$38,000 and the value of the stolen toys at US$280.

The three men are also accused of entering an attraction called the Old Mill and spraying 40 stuffed animals with a fire extinguisher, and of damaging three frog figures from an attraction called the Frog Room.

After hopping the fence back onto the beach, officials said, the men set off again in the boat, returning it to the club they had taken it from. It was unclear what became of the stolen toys. NYTIMES