The suspect first cased the truck as it parked outside 48 W. 48th St. then robbed it, police said. View Full Caption NYPD

MANHATTAN — Police video released Tuesday shows a man brazenly swipe an 86-pound bucket of gold worth $1.6 million from the back of an unattended armored truck in Midtown before scampering away, NYPD officials said.

The suspect first cased the open Loomis International truck as it parked outside 48 W. 48th St., near Sixth Avenue, while two guards went into a nearby building for another pickup about 4:30 p.m. Sept. 29, police said.

Loomis transports valuables, according to its website.

Realizing no one was looking, he then grabbed a black 5-gallon bucket carrying 86 pounds of gold flakes bound for Ontario and ran away with it in his arms, police said.

Surveillance cameras tracked him weaving around a crowded sidewalk and onto Sixth Avenue where he disappears from view.

The suspect, who hadn't been arrested as of Wednesday morning, is about 5 feet 6 inches tall, 150 pounds and in his 50s, police said.

He was last seen wearing a black vest, green shirt, blue jeans and carrying a black messenger bag, police said.

Anyone with information should contact Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS (8477).