[CPProt.net] When Taking a Painting, Don't Leave Your Picture

[Museum Security Network / Cultural Property Protection Net (Ton Cremers)]

 When Taking a Painting, Don't Leave Your Picture

May 17, 2005

By ANAHAD O'CONNOR 
There was no one in sight, a guaranteed getaway, and loot worth millions. So
it must have seemed all too easy to make off with a high-priced painting
from a cargo warehouse at Kennedy International Airport two weeks ago.

Except, the authorities said, for two small details:

1. It was all captured on videotape.

2. The thief apparently left behind a copy of his driver's license.

The stolen painting, a 1982 untitled work by Jean-Michel Basquiat, was
recovered last Friday, unharmed, at a trucking company in New Jersey, and
the authorities announced yesterday that a driver who worked there was being
charged with first-degree larceny and criminal possession of stolen
property. 

The sentence could mean up to 25 years in prison if the driver, Anthony
Porcelli Jr., 35, is convicted, said Richard A. Brown, the Queens district
attorney.

"There is constant surveillance at Kennedy by the airlines and the law
enforcement," Mr. Brown said. "In this case that surveillance paid off and
an important work of art has been recovered."

Mr. Brown said that Mr. Porcelli, who worked for Cace Trucking in Elizabeth,
N.J., was making a delivery to a Virgin Atlantic cargo warehouse at 2:30
p.m. on May 4. The oil and acrylic painting, valued at $1.5 million, was
sitting on a nearby dock.

It was encased in a roughly 6-foot by 7-foot cargo container, which was
labeled "painting," and was on its way to Rome after being sold through
Christie's auction house last November.

It never arrived. Instead, it was reported missing by security at the
warehouse two or three days later, Mr. Brown said, and a review of
surveillance tapes revealed that someone who looked like Mr. Porcelli had
stuck it into the back of his truck and driven off. There was also strong
evidence that Mr. Porcelli was in the warehouse, the authorities said,
because he was required to provide a copy of his driver's license at the
entrance. 

After quickly narrowing their search to Mr. Porcelli, detectives from the
district attorney's office visited Cace Trucking, where they discovered the
container. They said it was hidden in the back of the warehouse, unopened.
Mr. Porcelli surrendered to the Port Authority police yesterday. He was
arraigned before Judge Fernando M. Camacho in Queens Criminal Court. Bail
was set at $30,000, and Mr. Porcelli remained in custody last night. 

Mr. Porcelli had worked for Cace for seven or eight years, said the
company's president, George Cunningham. He added that Mr. Porcelli had
visited the airport on multiple occasions - presumably enough times to know
about its security procedures. 

"To me he's a complete idiot," Mr. Cunningham said yesterday. "Why would you
give someone your driver's license with all your information and then go and
do something like this?"

Telephone calls to Mr. Porcelli's lawyer were not returned yesterday. But
his landlord, who gave his name only as Vinnie, said he had spoken to Mr.
Porcelli and that he had no idea what was in the box or any plans to sell
it. He said Mr. Porcelli was angry at some workers who had kept him waiting
at the loading dock and took the box out of spite. As he was driving away,
the landlord said, Mr. Porcelli realized he had made "a foolish mistake,"
and considered returning the painting but decided it was too late.

"He absolutely did not know what was in the package - he's a truck driver,"
he said. "I don't think there was any intent to make a monetary gain. He was
just trying to get back at them."

Mr. Porcelli has lived in the one-bedroom apartment above his landlord's
garage in Staten Island for several years. During that time, the landlord
said, Mr. Porcelli, always paid his rent on time and never appeared to have
any problems with money. He said Mr. Porcelli had been depressed over a
breakup last year, which may have contributed to his poor judgment. 

"He's a sweetheart of a guy," he said. "If he had his last five dollars,
he'd give it to you."

Ann Farmer contributed reporting for this article.


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/17/nyregion/17painting.html