It’s Not Like You Would Expect Them To Take It With Them To The Bathroom

The Post answers what was in (or near) Scranton — a toilet:

A simple pit stop by the side of the highway led to the theft of an priceless painting by Spanish master Francisco de Goya while it was being transported to New York from Ohio for an exhibit at the Guggenheim Museum.

The 1778 masterpiece, “Children With a Cart,” was snatched when the professional art movers took a break on the side of the highway en route to the Big Apple and left their vehicle — and the nearly 5-foot-by-3-foot painting — unattended, said FBI spokeswoman Jerri Williams.

When they returned to their vehicle, the movers discovered it had been broken into and the painting had been swiped, she said.

It was the only artwork they were transporting — and that makes investigators believe the thieves didn’t just chance upon the masterpiece.

By the way, the Post’s headline — “When You Gotta Goya You Gotta Goya” — is not half bad!

But Excuse Me Officer, Don’t You Know Who My Second Cousin’s Ex-Brother-In-Law Is? He’s On The Force, Of Course!

Is the Civilian Complaint Review Board actually defending people who abuse PBA cards? It sounds that way:

Eleven officers have improperly confiscated police union “courtesy” cards shown to them by relatives and friends of other officers throughout the last 18 months, the Civilian Complaint Review Board announced yesterday.

In a letter to Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, CCRB chair Franklin Stone recommended that the NYPD better inform officers about the cards, which are often shown by civilians to get special treatment or immunity from tickets and/or arrest.

“Most, if not all, of these cases involved the improper seizure of union cards by police officers who misunderstood the law relating to these cards,” the Nov. 9 letter read. “Simply put, officers often do not have legal justification to seize police union cards — private property — from individuals who lawfully possess them.”

And apparently people complaining about a lack of special treatment is endemic:

In a separate letter to Kelly — dated yesterday — [New York Civil Liberties Union associate legal director Christopher] Dunn and NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman echoed the CCRB’s concerns and called for an investigation into conduct by NYPD Officer John McNeeley, who was pulled over for speeding in Kansas last month and showed the officer his driver’s license and NYPD ID.

“About 5 minutes later, he brought back a summons to me and thanked me for my cooperation,” McNeeley wrote in a letter to the court obtained by the NYCLU. “I then tried to ask him why a cop would write another cop a ticket? He would not answer. I have stopped many people and the minute they pull out their Law Enforcement ID card I say ‘Sir or Mam [sic] have a nice day’ No questions asked. . . . You see it’s called professional courtesy.”

Nice to know that both the CCRB and the Civil Liberties Union (while ostentatiously “sounding an alarm”) are standing up for your right to get out of paying tickets. Very heartening!

This Still Doesn’t Answer The Question Of Why Someone Would Stop In Scranton

Scranton, PA just sounds like the kind of place a major art heist would take place:

A painting by Goya was stolen on its way from the collection of the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio to a major exhibition that opens on Friday at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the two institutions announced yesterday.

The museums said in a statement that the 1778 painting, “Children With a Cart,” was stolen in the vicinity of Scranton, Pa., while in the care of a professional art transporter. They said the theft was discovered last week but refused to provide additional details on the crime. Officials at both museums said the F.B.I. was investigating the case and had warned them that releasing additional information might jeopardize the inquiry.

The painting was to be included in “Spanish Painting From El Greco to Picasso: Time, Truth and History,” a sprawling exhibition of some 135 paintings by Spanish masters.

Kenyan Finds Diplomatic Immunity Less Robust Than Expected

Apparently there are some limits to diplomatic immunity:

An international custody battle is brewing over the children of a Kenyan diplomat who was arrested for allegedly beating his 9-year-old son at their Queens home.

Fred Matwanga’s diplomatic immunity has saved him from any criminal charges in the abuse case so far — but it didn’t stop officials from the city’s child-welfare agency from taking custody of his children over the weekend.

Sources yesterday said agents from the city’s Administration for Children’s Services put the injured boy and his little sister in a protective home while officials sort out abuse issues involving their father.

And ACS officials are set to meet with the New York City Office of the United Nations this morning to plot their next move — asking Kenya to waive immunity for Matwanga, the second secretary of its mission to the world body, a well-placed source said last night.

If the African country agrees, local authorities would then proceed with prosecuting Matwanga.

But if Kenya refuses to waive immunity for Matwanga, city officials will ask the U.S. State Department to boot him from the country, the source said.

. . .

Matwanga was busted Saturday night after allegedly beating his son on the head with a wooden stick in their home in South Ozone Park. Cops said the diplomat, 38, was also chasing the boy through the house with a knife.

The frightened child fled his home with a bloodied head shortly after 6 p.m. and tried to take refuge with a neighbor.

“My father’s trying to kill us,” the boy said, according to the neighbor, Cindy Raghu, 23.

Despite his desperate pleas, Raghu’s mother was so frightened that she shut the door, leaving the boy to fend for himself, Cindy Raghu said. The child then ran and hid behind some recycling bins in an alley next to the Raghus’ house.

I Really Wish You Wouldn’t Have Told Me That

The question is which local markets they are referring to:

A Staten Island woman has been charged with illegally importing the heads, limbs and torsos of wild African animals — including a monkey’s arm and the hoof of an antelope — to peddle to local markets.

Mamie Manneh, 38, was arrested earlier this year after a JFK customs official found hacked-up animal heads and haunches in a shipment from Guinea. The contraband animal parts were stashed in a shipment of smoked fish.

A search of Manneh’s home revealed more limbs — including a monkey’s arm — in her garage, authorities said.

Manneh was charged with importing unauthorized goods and pleaded not guilty to the charges in April. She appeared last week before Brooklyn federal Judge Raymond Dearie to request time for her lawyer to get her medical records in order.

(Rejected post title: “Monkey Business.”)