Two men pulled a bizarre Weekend at Bernies stunt by wheeling their dead friend through crowded New York streets to cash his benefits cheque.

James OHare and David Dalaia propped Virgilio Cintron on an office chair and rolled him through Manhattan, just a day after he died of natural causes.

After unsuccessfully trying to dress the corpse in a pair of trousers, the men covered his crotch with a jacket and pushed him from his apartment to the cheque-cashing store one block away.

They didnt kill the guy. He died of natural causes. But they were all about not letting the situation go to waste, an NYPD insider told the New York Daily News.

How are we going to cash it? Lets bring him with us. They must watch too many movies.

Witnesses say the men propped up 65-year-old Cintrons body on the chair outside the Pay-O-Matic store and went inside to cash the $355 Social Security cheque. Witnesses observed Mr. Cintron flopping from side to side and these individuals propping him up as they rolled along, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said.

Cintrons body drew a large crowd, including a detective who was eating lunch nearby, who raised the alarm.

The corpse was taken to a hospital morgue, while OHare, who lived with Cintron, and Dalaia were taken to a nearby Manhattan police station.

Police say they could be charged with cheque fraud.

Weekend at Bernies is a 1989 movie starring Andrew McCarthy and Jonathan Silverman, who try and make it appear that their murdered boss Bernie Lomax is still alive so a house party goes ahead.