PALM BEACH, Fla. — Palm Beach police say a former member of a punk rock band stole mail from properties along Billionaires Row.
According to an arrest report, a police officer spotted 59-year-old Harris Pankin, who's homeless, at the service entrance of Mar-a-Lago around 7:30 a.m. on July 14.
That officer said Pankin told him he was asking a construction worker for a cigarette lighter and wanted to go to the beach.
About 90 minutes later, around 9 a.m., the officer said he came across Pankin again rummaging through a mailbox in the 1800 block of S. Ocean Blvd. at a vacant property where socialite Mary Montgomery and her late husband, Robert Montgomery, Jr., once lived.
According to his arrest report, Pankin told the officer he was a federal agent and mail detective.
Police said Pankin had also stolen mail from a second home just north of the Montgomery property.
Pankin, a former member of the punk rock band, Letch Patrol, was arrested for petit theft.