Sometimes celebrating takes an ugly turn.
As many revelers celebrate Ireland’s patron saint with parades and in bars, many rejoice in the history of St. Patrick. However, some have taken advantage of the feast day to commit some of the most outlandish crimes in recent history.
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A brazen art heist took place while many were basking in the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in Boston in 1990.
Thieves capitalized on the city’s festivities and carried out a bold robbery at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.
Two men dressed as Boston police officers removed works of art that were valued as much as $300 million, according to the FBI.
The thieves pinched pieces of art from Manet, Vermeer, Flink, and four Degas and made off with three Rembrandts, marking the largest private property theft in American history. It is currently listed on the FBI’s website as one of the Top Ten Art Crimes ever.
The suspects were never caught and 26 years later, the precious art has never been returned. Inside the museum today, many empty frames hang as homage to the missing pieces and a reminder of what was stolen.
In 2010, one man thought he could find a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow by dressing up as a leprechaun and robbing a bank outside Nashville.
A Gallatin bank was held up by a man dressed as a piece of Irish folklore who brandished a gun as he took an undisclosed amount of money. He took off in a car driven by an accomplice.
Police tracked down the car and all hell broke loose, as cops and the suspects got into a wild gunfight, disabling one of the police cruisers in the process.
As the suspects fled from their car and into a field, one man was fatally shot. As cops closed in on the other suspect, he took his own life. Neither criminal was publically identified.
The money was recovered from their getaway car.
Last year, a wild house party turned into a nightmare after students partying on top of a garage roof came toppling down when it collapsed.
About 1,500 students from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo were partying at “St. Fratty’s Day” at the off-campus home to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day early when the structure gave out.
About 30 students dropped during the collapse and eight were injured, though no one was seriously hurt.
The local fire department responded and posted photos on Twitter.
Update from Hathaway incident- eight patients, 4 of which transported to local ERs, mass casualty incident declared. pic.twitter.com/z1PwRxWDgW
— SLO City Fire (@SLO_City_Fire) March 7, 2015
Following the event, the university issued a statement: “Cal Poly is also in close contact with local public safety agencies as they work to determine exactly what occurred. Their findings will help inform our own efforts to ascertain what led to this incident and decide how we will respond."
"I think we are very, very lucky there weren't more serious injuries or fatalities," said San Luis Obispo fire Chief Garret M. Olson told ABC7.com at the time of the incident.
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Also in 2015, a Missouri man was busted for armed robbery of a convenience store on St. Patrick’s Day.
Brian Fry, 33, was suspected in the robbing of an Express Mart in Kirksville. According to police, he arrived at the store with a pellet gun that looked identical to a semi-automatic firearm. He reportedly ordered for the cashier to give him money and then moved the employees into a storage room. He asked for their belongings and took off.
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Investigators used surveillance footage to nab Fry, who was arrested a day later.
In December, he pleaded no contest to armed robbery and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
One St. Paddy’s Day enthusiast was still out celebrating the holiday when he was beaten, robbed and stripped of his clothes by four people during the early hours of March 18, 2012 in Baltimore.
The Virginian tourist lost his car keys, iPhone and TAG Heuer watch, but had no recollection of the incident.
But the attack had been recorded on cellphone video and uploaded to YouTube, which investigators used to track down the suspects.
Aaron Parsons, Shayona Mikia Davis, Deangelo Carter and Shatia Baldwin, were identified as the attackers and were arrested.
In July 2012, the four attackers pleaded guilty in connection with the incident.
Parson was sentenced to three years in jail, with all but one suspended. While Carter, Davis and Baldwin were sentenced to one year with all but time served.
After the sentencing, Parson's attorney Warren Brown, told CBS local: “He offered an apology to both the victim and the city, interestingly because he knows he brought disrepute to the city, considering this went viral and cast a negative image of the city.”
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