BLACKSTONE, Mass. — A notorious art thief, Myles Connor chronicled his criminal exploits in “The Art of the Heist,” recounting a legendary career of masterpieces pilfered from marbled halls.

But his latest alleged caper was a far cry from artful. Connor, 69, was arrested Thursday night on charges of robbing two women outside a convenience store in Woonsocket, R.I., during a drug dispute, police said. The weapon he brandished, which appeared to be a 9mm firearm, was in fact a pellet gun, and he got away only with a cellphone, police said.

“This was not a random robbery,” said Captain Edward Lee of the Woonsocket police. “It was a dispute over narcotics.”

Connor — a Milton native who now lives in Blackstone, a small town across the state line from Woonsocket — was once a legend among thieves, a brazen bandit who in 1975 stole a Rembrandt from the Museum of Fine Arts, then promised its safe return to avoid jail time for another heist.

Once the leader of a 1960s band called Myles and the Wild Ones, Connor was convicted of stabbing two women in Quincy in 1975, but the verdict was later overturned.

He was long believed to be ­involved in the 1990 robbery of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, the largest art theft in history, although he was in prison at the time of the heist.

Also in 1990, Connor had been sentenced to 20 years for art thefts and other crimes, and called “rotten to the core” by a federal judge.

Shortly after his release from prison in 2005, he said he would try to broker the return of the stolen masterpieces, which include a Vermeer and three other Rembrandts.

But in recent years, his ambition seemingly trammeled by time, Connor has leaned toward petty crimes. Last year alone, he stole a pair of sunglasses from a drugstore and robbed a barn in Mendon of several bales of hay.

Woonsocket police said they had previously arrested Connor for shoplifting and drug possession. “I think his problem is narcotics,” Lee said.

Martin Leppo, Connor’s lawyer, said Connor had “little or no interaction” with the women, and maintained that his client was not directly involved in the robbery.

Police said they targeted Connor after spotting his car on surveillance footage, and he was later picked the suspect out of a lineup.

To arrest Connor, police did not have to travel far. About 10 p.m., a woman came to the station to inquire about posting bail for Connor’s girlfriend, ­Suzanne King, who had already been arrested in the robbery. On a hunch, police went out to check the car of Connor’s benefactor. “He had ducked down in the front seat,” Lee said.

When ordered to show his hands, Connor initially balked, but after several more commands he complied, police said. Connor was arraigned Friday on charges of conspiracy and first-degree robbery and was ordered held without bail.

Neighbors said Connor keeps a variety of animals — horses, chickens, dogs, and at least one emu — on his property. On Friday, a rooster on the property was in full voice. Residents knew well his high-
profile criminal past, and what appeared to be a suspicious present.

“The cops go by at least once a day,” said one neighbor, who said she spotted police towing Connor’s green truck Thursday.