[CPProt.net] USA: $55, 000 worth of art stolen in string of thefts

[MSN CPPnet]

 $55,000 worth of art stolen in string of thefts  
By Amanda Lee Myers, Tribune 
July 12, 2005 


Art thieves targeting galleries in downtown Scottsdale just got $30,000
richer. The Leona King Gallery on Main Street is the most recent victim in a
string of sculpture thefts that began in February. Thieves made away with a
$30,000, 8-foot-tall brass sculpture outside the gallery late Thursday or
early Friday, making it the sixth robbery or attempted robbery of a Main
Street gallery sculpture in five months. 
 
Altogether, thieves have stolen $55,000 worth of art, and show no signs of
letting up. 

"So much is getting stolen off our street," said Greg Sanchez, owner of
Leona King. "Where is this stuff going?"

In February, one or more thieves attempted to steal a statue outside the
Willow Gallery on the southwest corner of Scottsdale Road and Main Street.
They had moved the 6-foot-tall bronze sculpture about 15 feet and left it
there after being frightened away, according to police reports. 

But, burglars were successful in late March, when they took two $5,500
bronze sculptures of nude women by Rodd Ambroson from inside the Sonya Smith
Gallery on Main Street. That was the second burglary at that gallery in
which thieves targeted bronzes. 

A similar bronze sculpture of a nude woman worth $5,500 was stolen May 31
from Gallery Elite. 

While thieves failed to steal a $22,000, 600-pound bronze sculpture outside
the Long Gallery April 20, seven days later, thieves successfully made off
with an 8-foottall steel statue valued at $10,000 from outside the Lovena
Ohl Gallery on Main Street. 

The most-recent robbery at Leona King showed an unusual determination on the
part of the thieves, Sanchez said. 

All that was left of where the turquoise-faced sculpture - "Sun Kachina" by
Charlie Pratt - stood was a cement slab with dozens of bolts jutting out. 

The thefts could be the work of the same one or more individuals, or they
couldn't, said Scottsdale police Sgt. Eric Rasmussen. 

Gallery owners say it could be an art lover who can't afford good art,
foreigners taking the sculptures abroad for reproduction or someone selling
the sculptures on the black market. 


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