She insists that while she took the cat, she’s no burglar.
Retired optometrist Nancy Glassman refused a no jail plea deal Wednesday in a Manhattan court for allegedly swiping a cat she thought was abused from an Upper East Side bagel shop last year.
“I don’t believe I did anything wrong,” she said outside Manhattan Criminal Court. “The whole world is saying how can we stop abuse, how can we stop the Adam Lanzas of the world but no one wants to get involved. I thought he needed help so I helped. It was automatic.”
Prosecutors offered to dismiss the charges in six months against Glassman if she stayed out of trouble but she didn’t bite.
She’s prepared to take the case to trial despite facing up to seven years in prison if convicted.
The trouble started when the retired eye doctor popped into Bagels & Co on 76th Street and York Avenue to use the restroom September 22nd and was approached by a kitty names Cosmo.
“I see the cat walk from these huge filthy dusty bags in the corner and this guy brooms him to the side,” she said. “I saw this abuse then saw the cat’s ears and thought what’s wrong with him? This cat has a massive infection and needs help.”
The accused cat burglar scooped up the furball and drove him to Animal Care and Control of NYC on Easth 110th Street.
Glassman left the cat at the facility and returned to her North Woodmere, Long Island home before a pair of detectives knocked on her door.
“They asked me to come to the precinct to identify the cat,” she said. “They tricked me and when I got there they started reading me my rights.”
The misguided do-gooder spent a night in a holding cell before she was arraigned on a burglary rap.
“She’s not a cat burglar,” said her lawyer Pete Gleason. “It’s ridiculous and sad to see the amount of resources government entities throw at a waste of time.”
Authorities returned Cosmo to it’s rightful owner.
A veterinarian later told Glassman that Cosmo’s sores and large ears were caused by a congenital defect and not neglect, she said.