Hollywood art raids haul discovered after 25 years
Recovered treasure trove includes works by Picasso, Miro and letters signed by two US presidents
IT WAS a call the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) had been awaiting for 25 years.
An auctioneer from Southern California contacted detectives this summer to say he recognised pictures of stolen items listed on the department’s website; they were works of art hanging in his gallery.
The items in question were stolen from Hollywood’s wealthy residents during a spate of burglaries in 1993. While the LAPD had apprehended two suspects after an international investigation, the stolen items appeared to have disappeared without a trace.
The treasure trove included paintings by Pablo Picasso and his contemporary Joan Miró, as well as antiques such as documents signed by former US presidents Ronald Reagan and William Howard Taft.
The tip-off led the LAPD to reopen Operation Demetra in June, drafting in Lieutenant Mel Vergara and detectives from the original Nineties investigation. They followed a trail that led to four search warrants being issued in Los Angeles County and Orange County.
The investigators recovered more than 100 paintings, sculptures, furniture and antique guns and determined that at least some of the art dated back to the Nineties break-ins. The recovered items included two pieces by Picasso, one by Miró, and a picture and letter signed by Mr Reagan while he was governor of California.
Detectives announced the discovery this week as they attempt to locate the rightful owners.
Capt Lillian Carranza, the LAPD head of commercial crimes, said her officers were working with experts from the JPaul Getty Museum and catalogue each item.
“We are in the process of identifying the specific art, artists and how much it might be worth,” she said.
The burglaries saw hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of artwork stolen, including one with a market value of around $60,000 (£49,000) at the time of the theft. However, Capt Carranza said the values of some pieces may have depreciated because they had not been stored correctly.
Capt Carranza did not reveal the name of the auctioneer who tipped off her department but said the artwork came to the auction house through a relative of one of the original suspects.
The two suspects were identified as Armenians. One of them, Paul Tobeler, was jailed in 1996 for several years and has since died. Police believe he left the stolen artwork to a relative as part of an inheritance.
“Did this individual know they were stolen? Did this individual know they were receiving stolen property? That’s just part of the investigation that we’re not ready to dive into just yet,” she said.
Police have not revealed the identity of the second suspect as their investigation is still ongoing. to identify