Nantucket

Seagull steals man's wallet, picks through it on Nantucket roof

Noah Karberg, an airport manager on Nantucket, is looking for his wallet after a seagull flew off with it Sunday

NBC Universal, Inc.

A seagull is on the lam after stealing a man's wallet on Nantucket.

After a day of fishing on the Massachusetts island, Noah Karberg was headed home when his wife called him, asking him to run to Stop & Shop to pick up groceries.

WATCH ANYTIME FOR FREE

icon

Stream NBC10 Boston news for free, 24/7, wherever you are.

"I was in a fishing shirt and board shorts, so no pockets," he said Tuesday. "I put my phone and my wallet in the tray on top of the shopping cart. I do my shopping, and buy my groceries, come out to my truck, load most of my groceries onto the tailgate. I take a last couple of bags around to the backseat, come back around to the shopping cart, and there is a gull sitting on the cart, and right in front of me, grabs my wallet, flies off!"

Any good fisherman has stories, but Karberg's is backed up by cellphone video.

"It was like a gull with an agenda," he said. "Tossed the cash and went straight for my Amex."

The video shows the seagull on top of a nearby carwash, picking through his wallet.

"I was thinking, 'Oh my gosh, this is unreal, I gotta get my wallet back,'" Karberg said. "Started chasing the gull across the parking lot like a crazy person, knowing I looked like an idiot, but I really wanted my wallet back."

The gull had the gall to fly off though with Karberg's wallet in its mouth.

Since Sunday, Karberg, who is the airport manager at Nantucket Memorial Airport, has been hearing from people. He has not yet been reunited though with his wallet.

"I have had a lot of people reach out to me, say they were sorry for me, but it was really funny," he said with a laugh. "It has all been in good fun. The island has a pace in the summer. It can be frantic, people can get burned out, and I think this was a little bit of good fun that everyone had."

Contact Us