World Trade Center Suspects Small-Timers Police Think Someone Else Planned $1 Million Caper

One was homeless. Another was a heroin user who stole from his grandmother. The last was arrested two months ago for stealing two bottles of infant formula from an upper East Side pharmacy.

The three suspects charged in last week’s $1 million World Trade Center heist seem less than suited for an ambitious heist inside the famous, high-security New York landmark.

Their arrests followed years of living on the edge of poverty and drug abuse. Big-time bank robberies were not exactly their forte.

“These are small-time criminals we are talking about, guys who would steal sodas from the corner store, not criminal masterminds,” said Anthony Coppa, 42, a neighbor of two of the suspects.

Only two months ago, for example, one suspect, Richard Gillette, was sentenced to 20 days in jail after he was caught pilfering two bottles of Enfamil from a CVS Pharmacy, court records show.

A second suspect, Melvin Folk, 44, who has a history of drug and alcohol problems, has been homeless for months since his wife and 5-year-old son were burned out of their Queens home, a friend and employer, Steve Collins, said.

A third suspect, Mike Reed, 34, is a longtime heroin user who days before the robbery stole food stamps from a homeless man, friends said.

Law enforcement officials theorize that the robbery was planned by someone other than the three men who have been arrested. During the robbery, the suspects handcuffed both Brink’s guards but only disarmed one. The guard whose weapon was not taken failed a liedetector test and the other guard “did not do that well,” a law enforcement source said.

“If you’re coming out of the park with your clothes in a bag and a quarter in your pocket, a caper like this is going to seem like a good idea,” Collins said.