Thieves lift more than $100,000 from New York Wal-Mart

WHITE PLAINS, New York (Reuters) - Two men disguised as painters stole more than $100,000 from a suburban New York Wal-Mart on Monday, at the end of one of the busiest shopping weekends of the year, authorities said.

The manager of the White Plains, N.Y., store opened a backdoor for employees to take a smoking break in the early morning hours, and two masked men ran inside, one armed with a handgun, said White Plains Public Safety Commissioner David Chong.

"The two men were dressed in painters' outfits from head to toe, including those masks that you would put on so you wouldn't inhale paint fumes," Chong said.

The pair took more than $100,000 cash from a store safe, tied the manager to a chair and fled, authorities said.

The robbery took place not long after the store had closed at midnight on Sunday, capping the busy Thanksgiving holiday sales weekend. However, Chong said he did not know if the store typically would have that amount of cash on hand.

A manager at the Wal-Mart store declined to comment, and calls to Wal-Mart's corporate offices in Bentonville, Arkansas, were not immediately returned.

(Reporting by Aman Ali; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Jerry Norton)