Thief Stole a Roomful of Parking Meters

There are money sitting out on the streets for the takin’. Or so thought 34-year-old Maurice Mizrahi, a desperate drug addict who got money for his fix by stealing … parking meter!

Mizrahi has been seen wandering Brooklyn streets, smacking meters to hear how much change they contained. When he found one full of quarters, he would knock off the head by grabbing it and spinning it away from its base. Then he’d run home for a shopping cart to carry it away.

It was the same crime that Paul Newman’s character went to prison for in the 1967 film "Cool Hand Luke."

"We have to figure out how the hell he did it," a Department of Transportation source said. "This is crazy. He was doing some major work." A full meter can hold up to $70 in change, and they cost up to $700 to replace.

Kerry Burke, et al. of The Daily News has the story: Link

(Photo: Showalter / Daily News)