by Junyao Yang : missionlocal – excerpt
Project Artaud just hosted its spring open studios on April 12 and 13. Just a week later, it was struck by seemingly the same art thief three times.
In just one week, Project Artaud, the art cooperative at 499 Alabama St., was hit three times by seemingly the same thief — one interested mostly in the artworks.
In just one week, Project Artaud, the art cooperative at 499 Alabama St., was hit three times by seemingly the same thief — one interested mostly in the artworks.
The thief took keys from the lock boxes near the sidewalk and let himself into the three-story complex, where artists live and work. He stole a sculpture, several paintings and prints from five artists. The stolen pieces add up to about $20,000 in losses, according to Javier Manrique, an artist at the building who had one of his paintings stolen.
“It’s just odd,” Manrique said of the video that showed a man in his late 20s about 5 feet 10 inches tall. “But they knew what they were looking for.”
The thief was identified on security footage as the same man by Manrique, but Mission Local could not independently verify this. The San Francisco Police Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The break-in happened just a week after the spring open-studio weekend on April 12 and 13. On April 18, a wooden sculpture went missing overnight. On the evening of April 21, the thief returned and broke into the sculpture studio, stealing some electronics and speakers.
Two days later, on April 23, the thief showed up again between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. He entered through the back parking lot, “messed with” a double locked door that had a broken top lock, and went directly to the third floor, Manrique said. There, he stole two paintings from artist Dale Erickson and then took a few more from the second and ground floors — plus a bike from the parking lot.
The thief used spray paint in the parking lot to obstruct one of the security cameras, but was caught on other cameras in the parking lot and on the sidewalk. He also left his footprints on the wet paint on the third floor during a floor maintenance project… (more)