[MSN] Arrests made in art theft case. Trio accused of stealing three Santiago paintings.

[Museum Security Network Mailinglist]

November 21, 2006 


Arrests made in art theft case


Trio accused of stealing three Santiago paintings



Bennett J. Loudon
Staff writer 
WEBSTER - Law enforcement officials say they've solved the case of three
stolen Ramon Santiago paintings.

But they're withholding details of exactly how the crimes occurred and how
the trio operated. 

Accused of stealing artwork worth a total of $31,500 from McCoy's Custom
Picture Framing, 103 North Ave., are:


Thomas H. Gilbert, 42, of 473 Lyell Ave. in Rochester. 

John R. West, 40, of 1 Bryden Park, Penfield, a lawyer with an office at 25
E. Main St., Rochester.


Vincenzo J. Paone, 38, of 701 Shadowwood Lane, Webster. 
On Monday, police announced that the three men have been charged with three
counts each of third-degree grand larceny. The charge normally carries a
maximum sentence of up to seven years in state prison for each count. 

Gilbert and Paone have multiple felony convictions for burglary on their
records, which could qualify them for life sentences if convicted, said
Monroe County District Attorney Michael Green. 

West and Paone were arrested Friday. Gilbert was arrested Monday.

West is free on $5,000 bail. Paone and Gilbert are being held without bail
in the Monroe County Jail. They were arraigned before Webster Town Justice
Thomas DiSalvo, but town justices are not permitted to set bail for a
defendant with a felony record, Green said. 

The stolen paintings are titled Studio Doll, Leda and the Swan and Cat. Leda
and the Swan is valued at $14,000. Cat is worth $10,000 and Studio Doll is
priced at $7,500. On Friday, the paintings were found undamaged in a storage
facility in Penfield. Police are holding the paintings as evidence. 

The famed Rochester painter died in 2001.

"I feel great about getting my paintings back," said Tom McCoy, the owner of
the paintings and the frame shop. 

"We didn't think we were going to see them again," he said.

Police officials would not detail their theory of exactly how or why the
crimes were executed, but the thefts allegedly occurred on Oct. 30 and 31
and on Nov. 1. 

The thefts were reported Nov. 1 after an employee at McCoy's shop came out
of a back room and spotted someone running away with one. The framed oils
were on display in a window. 

Police believe the other two paintings were stolen while the shop was open,
but employees were distracted.

"At first it was assumed that all three paintings were all taken on Nov. 1,
but subsequent investigation led to identifying three separate larcenies,"
said Webster Police Chief Gerald Pickering. 

Because an autographed Santiago print worth $500 also was reported stolen
from a hair salon on Monroe Avenue in Brighton on Oct. 30, Webster and
Brighton investigators shared information. 

Brighton Police Chief Thomas Voelkl said he believes the two cases are
connected, but he declined to elaborate.

"A guy went in there under the pretense of making an appointment, gave a
phony ID and he said he had to use the men's room and then he went out the
back door with the print," Voelkl said. 

Voelkl would not name the salon where the theft occurred.

Webster investigators determined there were multiple suspects and asked for
assistance from the Rochester Police Department and the county Sheriff's
Office. The investigation included around the clock surveillance for about a
week. 

Warrants were served on three locations on Friday.

Pickering said the three defendants "were all equal conspirators in the
case."

Green said each defendant is not accused of being involved personally in all
the acts. 

"It is an allegation that all of them planned this out and were acting in
concert in connection with all three incidents."

BLOUDON at DemocratandChronicle.com 

http://www.bloomberg.com/