PoliCe seek puBliC tips in $500,000 Art theft
Multiple suspects sought in Beltline heist, 60 artworks and electronics stolen
Calgary police are turning to the public for help in a months-long investigation into the theft of more than $500,000 worth of art from a Beltline gallery in May.
Police say around 11:50 p.m. on May 20, multiple suspects gained entry into a commercial building at 602 11th Ave. S.W. and used a reciprocating saw to cut into the adjacent Gerry Thomas Gallery.
The suspects took at least 60 pieces of art from the gallery and a storage room, according to police, in addition to about $10,000 worth of electronics and alcohol from the gallery, and another $10,000 worth of items from an adjacent cafe.
Police believe one offender entered the building earlier in the day around 5 p.m. and repositioned security cameras in preparation for the heist later that night.
Const. Pavel Adaikin with the Calgary police patrol response team said the suspects spent up to seven hours removing art from the gallery.
While the incident happened four months ago, Adaikin said police wanted to pursue “other investigational avenues” they were hoping would lead them to the stolen art and suspects.
“At this point, we’ve exhausted those investigative avenues,” he said during a news conference at the gallery Wednesday.
“And now we’re asking for the public’s assistance. The other reason for the delay is we always had to consider the risk of them destroying the stolen art.”
By releasing information about the stolen works, police are hoping someone will recognize them.
Gerry Thomas, the owner of the gallery, said he was “stunned” when he learned of the theft. All the pieces of art had been removed from the walls and items in storage had largely been cleaned out.
The works taken from storage included rare sports memorabilia and high-end art, Thomas said.
Michelle Kruger, one of the artists who had her work stolen, said she had 11 pieces that she had prepared for a show. One of the artists the gallery was also showing at the time was her father, who is 83 and not producing work anymore. She said it was “devastating ” for her to walk in and see that both his artwork and her pieces were gone.
“There was one piece that wasn’t for sale, it was just a very personal piece for me that meant a lot to me, and I just had it here for the show for display and it’s gone,” she said.
Artist Ted Knudtson had a steel and bronze sculpture on display in the space in what was his first gallery showing.
“Having it stolen absolutely broke my heart,” he said. “I haven’t really fully recovered yet.”
Knudtson is hoping the piece will turn up, even if it’s damaged.
“Thieves have a hundred different motives for stealing things,” he said. “But I think rarely do they think about the hundreds and hundreds of person hours that went into the creation of these works, the emotions, the blood, sweat and tears, the familial connections.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact police.