A masked bandit was busted outside a Diamond District shop Friday morning.
The four-legged suspect — a raccoon — was discovered snoozing at around 8 a.m. in the vestibule in front of the Diamond Shop on West 47th Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues after apparently getting pooped trying to claw its way inside.
“It seemed like it was really desperate to get in past the glass door, maybe for the heat,” said just-arriving store employee Mike Nekta.
“I was in shock,” he continued. “I really couldn’t believe it. I was looking around for whose raccoon was this, because I couldn’t believe a raccoon was in Midtown Manhattan. I thought it jumped off a truck or something.”
When the NYPD’s Emergency Services Unit closed in, the animal tried to make a run for it — but within a few minutes, cops managed to grab it with a pair of long tongs and place it in a cage.
The critter never found its way inside — but did leave some incriminating paw prints on the glass door.
An employee who gave only his first name, Avery, said he wiped away the evidence.
The raccoon is now “in custody” with Animal Care and Control, cops said.
“They got it done,” Nekta said of the cops. “It was freaky. No one expected it to happen. They did it nicely. I can’t imagine them being trained for something like this.”
