Uni students chase down man found with $27,300 in stolen artworks

Three Boston students have been praised for assisting with the arrest of a burglar found carrying stolen art valued at almost US$21,000 (A$27,300).

The students were returning from the Super Bowl LI on February 5 when they encountered a suspicious-looking man leaving the Galerie d'Orsay art gallery carrying four paintings, ABC News US reports.

"I yelled out to him, 'Hey what are you doing? Did you just take those?'" student Mackenzie Thompson recounted.

"And he turned around and once he saw us running after him he actually dropped the paintings and started to run away."

The three students managed to catch the man and alert authorities, who subsequently arrested the suspect, identified as New Hampshire man Jordan Russel Leishman.

CCTV shows the man using a brick to smash his way through the gallery’s front door.

A fine art consultant based at the gallery said that based on the footage, the man “didn’t seem” to know what he was doing.

"He comes into the second room, walks past the beautiful, $90,000 ($117,000) Picasso (and) instead grabs another small $1800 ($2340) Miró," Camille Super told ABC News.

"It didn't seem like he knew what he was doing."

Mr Leishman appeared in court yesterday charged with breaking and entering, larceny over $250 (A$325) and being a fugitive from justice.

He has pleaded not guilty and is expected to return to court on March 20 for a pre-trial hearing