Woonsocket Police Nab Notorious Art Thief Myles Connor For Stealing Cell Phone

Myles Connor, 69, famed art thief and one-time rocker, was arrested Thursday, July 5 for robbing a woman of her cell phone at gunpoint in an attempt to get her to pay a debt.

Connor, resident of 21 Residential Lane in Blackstone, is also the author of "Art of the Heist: Confessions of a Master Art Thief, Rock-and-Roller, and Prodigal Son."

He drew several Woonsocket Police officers to the area of Hamlet Avenue at about 3:50 p.m. when he confronted a woman he said owed him money.

When officers arrived on the scene, the victim told them she had walked to a friend's house on Greene Street to speak with some of her friends. She said an older man she only knew as "Myles," later identified as Myles Connor, was with them, and accused her of owing him money when she asked him for a cigarette. Myles pulled a black handgun with a silver tip and pointed it at her head. The weapon was later identified as a pellet gun.

A woman with Myles, later identified as Marie Suzanne King, 48, grappled with her and attempted to take her necklace. Though the woman managed to hang on to the necklace, the pair got her cell phone, a Samsung Focus worth about $250.

During the end of the assault and robbery, the victim's girlfriend showed up and was able to witness the final moments of the struggle.

Connor and King walked away toward the parking lot of CT Plus Convenience Store at 11 Hamlet Ave., with the victim and her girlfriend following them. Police spoke with an employee of CT Plus, who said she saw the victim and her friend following Connor and King, while the victim shouted, "They robbed me with a gun and took my cell phone." The criminal couple got calmly into their car, a blue sedan with MA plates, and drove away.

Det. Sgt. Matt Ryan said police were able to find King in Blackstone using plate information and a description from the victim and witnesses, and arrested her. Later, when Connor arrived at the Woonsocket Police Station to post bail for her, he sat in his car and sent someone else in with the money. Police found Connor in his car outside the station and arrested him as well.

It was an ironic outcome for a man who, as the Boston Herald reports, has a reputation for skirting the consequences of his thefts and once bargained with the FBI to arrange the return of $300 million in art taken from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Musuem.

Ryan said Connor's arrest was an exciting development for the Woonsocket Police Department. "You don't usually have a suspected art thief arrested somewhere in your city," he said.