Nanuet man accused of doling out bread from stolen truck
NEW YORK – No one can accuse a 29-year-old Nanuet man of loafing around, but they are alleging he stole a bakery truck and randomly began doling out bread until the dough ran out.
In the end, it wasn't the stolen truck that clued police in but David Bastar's fixation with following a frightened limo driver into Queens.
The half-baked caper began Monday in Manhattan on the corner of Second Avenue and 95th Street where a driver for Queens-based Grimaldi's Home of Bread left his truck running as he went inside a pizzeria to make a delivery.
Bastar, who police said is an unlicensed driver, allegedly jumped into the truck and drove off, continuing to make deliveries, although not to the bakery's customers
"He was delivering bread at random places," bakery owner Joe Grimaldi said. "It was very bizarre…They were finding bread in front of their doors."
Bastar apparently went on to distribute nearly all of the $8,000 worth of baked goods in the truck to unsuspecting businesses, bar a few boxes left behind on the truck, Grimaldi said.
The bakery ended up having to send a second truck back out to deliver to customers who missed out on their goods.
At some point, Bastar started tailgating a Cadillac Escalade limousine, startling the driver, Armando Sigcha, who hours earlier had dropped off "Today" show host Natalie Morales at the studio.
Sigcha was headed to pick up customers at LaGuardia Airport when he spotted the bread truck on the Queensboro Bridge, following inches behind. For two miles, Sigcha tried to shake the truck, driving slower then faster, flashing his lights and making abrupt turns but nothing worked.
"I was getting a little scared because I thought if I stopped he was going to hit me," Sigcha said.
Finally, Sigcha called his dispatcher and arranged for Port Authority police to meet them at the airport's Terminal Road. When police ordered Bastar out of the truck, he wore nothing but a pair of briefs, Sigcha said.
Bastar was taken to Elmhurst Hospital for a mental health evaluation and later charged with criminal possession of stolen goods and driving without a license, a spokeswoman for the Port Authority Police said. He appeared in Queens Criminal Court Tuesday and was released on his own recognizance.
He could not be reached for comment.