NY Assemblyman Andrew Goodell’s car stolen from Capitol garage

Not even legislative leaders in Albany’s Capitol are immune from the ongoing crime wave — as an upstate Republican leader who lost his BMW at work can attest.

Assemblyman Andrew Goodell (R-Chautauqua) told The Post that a car thief apparently stole a uniform of the state Office of General Services, which oversees facilities at the Capitol, before stealing his ride and then crashing it blocks away. 

Longtime Albany insiders say they have never seen anything like the incident involving Goodell’s 2009 BMW 330xi.

“This is a first. But it illustrates the times we’re living in. Crime has been out of control for years and not nearly enough has been done to address it. Streets aren’t safe. Neighborhoods aren’t safe. And apparently the Legislature’s parking facility isn’t safe either,” said Assembly Minority Leader William Barclay (R-Pulaski).

Of course, the legislators may want make it a little less easy to steal their things than Goodell, a Western New York native, did. He admitted to The Post that his small town habits were partly responsible for the heist considering that he left the key in his vehicle so a staffer could access it.

“‘You’re an idiot and I told you so,’” Goodell quoted his wife as saying.

The longtime GOP floor leader bummed a ride to his Albany apartment from Assemblyman Joseph Giglio (R-Gowanda) before walking to work at the Capitol the following day.

“I told him it was like a bad B movie,” Giglio told the Post of how he consoled Goodell.

The saga took another turn the next day, when state police found the missing vehicle in the wee hours of the morning following a collision at the intersection of Madison Avenue and Lark Street a few blocks from the Capitol. 

A search for the suspect remains ongoing, according to state police, though Goodell did get his Capitol ID back after it was found near the crash site.

Goodell opined that whoever jacked the Beamer – which he said is now for sale “at a deep discount” – evidently had fun cruising the capital before wrecking the vehicle reportedly filled with tools stolen from the Capitol garage.

“The sunroof was open and the windows were down up on Lark – so just having a good time,” said Goodell, who will use an Assembly-provided Chevy Impala to drive home this week. 

If caught and convicted, the suspect could face serious time in the slammer.

Auto theft is a non-bail eligible felony in New York if the vehicle is worth more than $100, punishable by up to four years in prison, legal experts say.

A suspect in the case with outstanding charges or prior conviction, however, could be held on bail under new rules approved by Albany Democrats this year, according to experts.

“I’m pretty sure they’ll catch him, but the irony is that they’ll be back out on the street in less time it took me to walk from my apartment to my office after he stole my car,” Goodell predicted.

Ample security and fear of incarceration apparently were not enough though to spare Goodell amid an ongoing increase of vehicular thefts in New York City and beyond. 

“They do have cameras, they do have security so it was a little bit surprising that somebody would be that bold to come into a parking area like that and take the vehicle,” Giglio said of the incident.