[CPProt.net] Reward sees return of hefty bronze sculpture

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

Reward sees return of hefty bronze sculpture 
 
19.10.05
By Derek Cheng

 
The saga of the bronze sculpture stolen from a Waikanae restaurant has
unfolded like a Quentin Tarantino movie - but with a happy ending. 

Late on Thursday, October 6, ambitious thieves made off with Long Horizon -
a Paul Dibble-designed sculpture weighing over a tonne - from outside the
restaurant Swell. 

Last night, the sculpture was safely back in the hands of its co-owners,
Gavin Bradley and Maggie Mouat. 

"It's a bit like winning Lotto, there's a feeling of elation," Mr Bradley
said. 

"We had started to feel we weren't going to see it again." 

Yesterday morning, a man phoned the local newspaper, the Kapiti Observer, to
say he knew where the sculpture was and wanted to exchange it for a reward. 

After the man convinced the thieves to exchange the sculpture for the
reward, he showed Ms Mouat and the Observer editor Diane Joyce video footage
of Long Horizon. 

"We decided to meet the demands, otherwise we would have never seen it again
and it would have been cut to pieces," Mr Bradley said. 

A group including Mr Bradley met two men in a churchyard in Waikanae, where
the exchange was made. 

Senior Sergeant Alasdair Macmillan, of Kapiti police, said police were
notified 10 minutes before the drop-off. 

A friend of Mr Bradley's rang the police after the drop-off with a
registration number, and police later pulled over a car north of Otaki. 

A man, the sole occupant of the car, will appear in court today facing
accessory to theft charges. 

Police are hunting the thieves and trying to recover the reward money. 

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/