Magician David Copperfield robbed after show at Kravis Center

By Jose Lambiet

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

He made 13 people disappear into thin air during his Kravis Center show Sunday night, but magician David Copperfield couldn't duplicate the feat with armed teens who robbed him and two women near the venue two hours later.

The handgun-toting suspects scrammed in a black Malibu with a Kentucky license plate but were nabbed 10 minutes later by West Palm Beach cops.

Behind bars today are three Palm Beach Shores boys, all 17, whose names weren't released because of their age, and 18-year-old Dwayne Riley, known on the streets as The Kentuckian. They were charged with armed robbery and held without bail.

The tattoo-covered Riley, also from Palm Beach Shores, is alleged to have pointed a gun at Copperfield, 49, whose real name is David Kotkin.

"I had a gun pointed at my head from 6 inches away," Copperfield said Tuesday between his two shows in Sunrise. "I'm pretty good under pressure. That's my job. But I had two young ladies with me."

The illusionist and assistants Cathy Daly and Mia Volmut were walking near CityPlace toward their tour bus parked at the Kravis when thugs approached them about 11:15 p.m. The group had gone to a steakhouse for dinner after Copperfield's sixth and last show here.

According to the police report, this is what happened next: The Malibu pulled up behind the group, and two of the four young men in the car came out holding handguns. One ordered Daly to "give me what you have." Daly handed over $400 from her pockets. Riley, meanwhile, allegedly stuck a gun in Volmut's face and asked for her purse, and she, too, gave it up. In it were 200 euros, $100, her passport, plane tickets and a Razr cellphone.

When Copperfield's turn came, Riley was bamboozled.

Copperfield told Page Two he pulled out all of his pockets for Riley to see he had nothing, even though he had a cellphone, passport and wallet stuffed in them.

"Call it reverse pickpocketing," Copperfield said.

Riley jumped behind the wheel, and the car took off.

Copperfield read the license plate to Daly as she called 911. Daly also described the suspects to the operator as "very urban-like" and cops pulled over the car at 45th Street and Broadway at 11:25 p.m. Copperfield and the women were taken quickly to the location in a squad car, and they identified the handcuffed youths as the robbers. The loot was recovered.

"Call it reverse pickpocketing," Copperfield said.

I like that sentence he said to the robbers,he sounded SO cool,like he arent afraid of the robbers.Good thing cops are everywhere.I admire his coolness.