Courtside celebration to corporate headache
A woman who celebrated the New York Knicks’ championship parade by stealing a commemorative trash can has reportedly lost her job at JPMorgan Chase.
Which has to be one of the most expensive bins in recent memory.
Angie Báez went viral after videos appeared to show her emptying a Knicks-themed rubbish bin onto a Manhattan sidewalk before walking away with the bin.
Unfortunately for her, she did this in the middle of a championship parade. In New York City. Surrounded by people with phones.
According to the New York Post, Báez was working as an executive director at JPMorgan Chase. A company spokesperson later confirmed that she was no longer employed there.
The New York City Department of Sanitation offered perhaps the most honest assessment of the situation.
“Dumping trash onto the street and stealing public property for your own personal use are both illegal, antisocial behaviors, and not what New Yorkers do.” The department said. “On top of all that, doing both on camera is incredibly stupid.”
While we were going crazy over the audacity, the legal consequences remain surprisingly limited. The NYPD says it has not received any formal complaints relating to the incident and Báez has not been charged with a crime.
Under New York law, theft of property valued under $1,000 would typically be treated as a misdemeanor that often results in fines or community service for first-time offenders.
And if there was any silver lining to the alleged theft, it didn’t last long.
The New York Department of Sanitation later confirmed on X that the bin had been recovered.
So after all that, she reportedly lost her job, became an X character, and didn’t even get to keep the trash can. That’s a rough trade.
