David Letterman jokes about theater break-in
(CBS/AP) Plenty of people damage property during a drunken blackout. Most of them don't do it so publicly that the incident is mentioned in a David Letterman monologue.
The attorney for a man charged with smashing glass doors and breaking into the New York City theater where David Letterman tapes his television show said the man was drunk and doesn't recall the incident.
Meanwhile, Letterman poked fun of the incident on Monday night's "Late Show with David Letterman."
"How'd you folks get in?" he asked the audience in his opening monologue.
"This is the Late Show, not just a talk show, ladies and gentlemen, this is an active crime scene," he joked.
In his monologue, Letterman also said, "I'm told now that Jay [Leno] has an alibi" before suggesting that it could have been Charlie Sheen who broke in.
Later in the monologue, Letterman showed what he said was CBS surveillance camera footage. It features bandleader Paul Shaffer in the lobby of the Ed Sullivan Theater wielding a baseball bat shouting that he's wasted 29 years working with Dave.
On "The Tonight Show," Leno showed footage of him walking out of the theater (and crime scene) during a doctored news report.
Letterman's category for the Top Ten List was "Top Ten Excuses of the Guy Who Broke into the Sullivan Theatre."
Number 10 was "When did stupid human tricks become illegal?"
Suspect James Whittemore was arraigned Monday on burglary and criminal mischief charges. The 22-year-old, who was taken into custody at the theater, "certainly didn't plan this" and doesn't even remember how he got to the Ed Sullivan Theater early Sunday, his lawyer said.
A criminal court complaint says Whittemore used a metal stanchion to break several of the theater's glass doors. They say he did about $5,000 worth of damage at the closed theater. The complaint says pictures, fans, phones, and printers were among other items damaged.
CBS and production company Worldwide Pants said the "Late Show" set wasn't harmed.