Police picked up a Bronx resident named William Footman, 55, as the culprit in at least six thefts from Chase Bank ATM vestibules throughout lower Manhattan and the Upper East Side, sources said.
Investigators are now reviewing surveillance footage to determine if Footman is also behind 32 other carpet heists, sources said.
"For people on the street seeing this guy walk out of a bank carrying these carpets, they probably think nothing of it," a law-enforcement source was quoted by New York Post as saying.
Footman was allegedly selling the USD 400 industrial-quality rugs to a Harlem bodega for just USD 30.
In some locations, as many as three carpets were stolen at a time, the source said.