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Drunk Actor Breaks Into Late Show Theater

22-year-old smashes glass, crawls inside

By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff

Posted Jul 11, 2011 5:00 AM CDT

(Newser) – A struggling actor stuck waiting tables managed to make an appearance at the Ed Sullivan Theater—and was arrested for his trouble. Police say James Whittemore, 22, kicked through a glass door at the home of the Late Show with David Letterman yesterday morning, after a night of drinking, and crawled inside. He allegedly then used a velvet-rope pole to smash three more doors, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Whittemore is also accused of destroying phones, ripping frames off walls, and knocking over trash cans—though he didn’t quite make it into the Late Show’s studio. A maintenance worker across the street called police at 7am, and Whittemore was arrested peacefully. He told authorities he’d blacked out after drinking Saturday night and awoke in front of the theater. He has been treated for wounds from breaking through the glass, and charged with burglary and criminal mischief. Meanwhile, the show must go on, CBS says: Letterman will tape today as usual.

A screen grab from Wall Street Journal video. (Wall Street Journal video)

FILE - In this Oct. 4, 2009 file photo, traffic moves down Broadway, past the Ed Sullivan Theater where the Late Show with David Letterman is taped, in New York. Police responded to a 911 call of a burglary... (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg, File)

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22-year-old smashes glass, crawls inside

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