[imagesource: David Stephenson / Getty]

It’s one thing to watch Ocean’s Eleven or Snatch and wonder if you could pull off a successful heist.

It’s quite another to get your college mates together and try to pull off what VICE refers to as “one of the most audacious art heists in US history”.

The audacity of youth on full display.

Chas Allen was one of four college students who trained their thieving eyes on the Transylvania University Private Collections Museum in Kentucky, famous for housing some of the rarest (and most valuable) books and paintings in the world:

If successful, the theft would make each of the students a fortune.

As part of the plan (inspired by heist movies) each of the four students took on separate responsibilities: One created aliases and backstories to contact the library and auction houses. Another created false documents and disguises to make the group look like old men.

With Allen as a get-away driver, the students managed to get away with a number of items… But a series of stupid mistakes would lead to their downfall.

Let’s chalk that up to youth as well.

Below, Chas and others involved in the heist elaborate on what went wrong back in 2004:

I feel like the cops would have pulled that trigger if Chas was, you know…

The resultant infamy has actually helped Chas who has gone on to become an actor, writer, and producer. He’s even written a few books for good measure, including Mr Pink: The Inside Story of The Transylvania Book Heist.

The heist has also been turned into a Hollywood movie titled American Animals.

[source:vice]