Police: Man tried to steal sculpture by dropping it off gallery’s balcony
Suspect was also investigated in theft of larger artwork from same business
A Santa Fe man recently charged with attempted theft of a small sculpture at a downtown art gallery also was investigated in connection with a heist just days earlier of a massive $19,000 bronze bear sculpture from outside the same gallery.
Peter Michael Romero, 71, has not been charged in connection with the March 31 late-night theft of the 150- to 175-pound sculpture Bottom Heavy from Manitou Galleries at 123 W. Palace Ave.
But records show police obtained a warrant to search Romero’s black 2004 Ford Taurus station wagon after a detective noticed that surveillance video from March 31 showed a black station wagon drive past the gallery a short time after the bronze bear sculpture was carried off.
A police affidavit said the vehicle in the video matched
Romero’s vehicle, in which he was found and arrested outside the gallery April 5 on suspicion of stealing the smaller sculpture, and which had been towed after his April 10 arrest on suspicion of drunken driving on Gilmore Street.
However, a search of the station wagon on April 11 turned up nothing but a heap of clothing, shoes and a sleeping bag, and it looked as if Romero had been living in the car, the return on the warrant said.
Romero was released from the Santa Fe County jail on the same day police searched his vehicle, inmate records show.
The bronze bear — which had a stamped edition number attached to it and was entered into a national crime database after it was stolen — still has not been recovered, gallery employees said Friday.
Romero has been a frequent visitor to Friday night art openings at Manitou Galleries, said Andrea Vigil, an art consultant at the gallery.
“He comes regularly,” Vigil said, though she added that she hasn’t seen him since the thefts were reported.
The April 5 pilfering of a 6-inch by 5-inch by 3-inch bronze Bison Skull piece valued at $525 during a Friday night art opening was recorded on surveillance video inside the gallery owner’s upperfloor office, employees said.
Romero is seen walking into the office, approaching a desk where the statue had been used as a paperweight, then picking it up and putting it into his jacket pocket, according to employees and police. He then walked over to a balcony and dropped it onto the sidewalk, nearly hitting someone below. An employee ran out and detained Romero until police arrived.
The gallery owner, who was in Wyoming at the time, had been monitoring his surveillance video, saw the theft, and called gallery employees, officer manager Sandy Swatek said.
“He called us and said, ‘There’s a guy stealing stuff out of my office up there,’” Swatek said.
A criminal complaint filed against Romero states he told officers before his arrest that he had been at the gallery “and had seen an object that he liked but did not want to pay for.”
The skull sculpture was not damaged and is now on display at the gallery.
Employees said Friday they were not aware Romero had been investigated in connection with the bear sculpture theft.
In that case, police said surveillance video showed two males wearing hoodies, with their faces out of view of the camera, cutting the sculpture from atop a stone bench outside the gallery at about 11:30 p.m. One of the males then picked up the bear and walked off with it.
Then, just before midnight, a black station wagon enters the view of the camera, heading west on Palace Avenue toward Sandoval Street, police said.
The gallery has since added more surveillance cameras, Vigil said.