When Caroline Giuliani allegedly slipped those five beauty products into her purse and allegedly attempted to walk out of the Sephora this week, she (allegedly!) joined the fine ranks of the shoplifters of New York. And it's a rich history-the compulsive thief Joseph Rosen once called New York "a shoplifter's paradise," in a 1997 Times profile . Not every shoplifter can be the progeny of America's Mayor, but any storeowner with missing inventory knows the city has no shortage of hands with sticky fingers. Here's a selection of New York-related instances of shoplifting, some from the past and a few incidences from local fiction.

The Post is reporting that Caroline Giuliani, the former mayor's youngest child, was arrested today at the Sephora on 86th and Lexington-near the home of her mother Donna Hanover, Rudy's ex-wife- for allegedly shoplifting from the cosmetics store. The 20-year-old was caught in the act at 3:30 p.m., the Daily News alleges. This is the conversation I had with a Sephora employee shortly thereafter.