Suspect captured in armored truck theft of $1.6M in gold flakes

NEW YORK - The New York Police Department says a man has been arrested in Ecuador in the brazen theft of an 86-pound bucket of gold flakes worth nearly $1.6 million off an armored truck in midtown Manhattan.

The NYPD said Friday that U.S. Homeland Security investigators and New York City and Ecuador police apprehended Julio Nivelo, who also uses aliases.

The gold hasn’t been recovered.

Surveillance cameras showed the thief swiping the 5-gallon bucket off the back of the vehicle in broad daylight on Sept. 29.

A guard had briefly gone to the truck’s cab, apparently to retrieve his phone. Pedestrians and vehicles streamed past.