An man was arrested after he was caught on the roof of a gallery in the Arizona city of Scottsdale, foiling his attempt to steal around $250,000 worth of art on January 7.
Harpreet Singh, 32, was charged with two counts of criminal trespass and burglary and one count of theft for his attempted heist at American Fine Art, Inc., Maricopa County Jail records show. Artnet News reached out to the gallery and the Scottsdale Police Department but did not hear back by press time.
Officers responded to a 911 call of a burglary in progress from the gallery’s alarm company around 5:45 a.m. on Sunday, Arizona Family reported. An employee had also noticed several pieces of artwork missing from the walls and heard someone talking in the office above the gallery. When police arrived, they found a BMW sedan with California license plates back into an alley near an emergency access ladder leading to the roof and surrounded the building. Singh was arrested before he could make his escape.
Harpreet Singh, 32, was charged with two counts of criminal trespass and burglary and one count of theft for his attempted heist at American Fine Art. Photo courtesy of Maricopa County Jail.
Zach Friedman, a local business owner, called the attempted heist “pretty unbelievable” with “people running across roofs like it’s Mission Impossible” in his remarks to Arizona Family. According to KTAR, police recovered a small drill, a glass breaking tool and a flashlight.
Singh was reportedly arrested without incident and the artworks he allegedly attempted to steal were found scattered on the roof and that of adjacent buildings.
The pieces stolen reportedly included works by Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol. The $250,000 estimate reported by local news was based on initial reports and Arizona Family later added that the value may be much higher, in the millions of dollars.
Police also recovered a Nevada drivers license and passports in Singh’s car. He has previously been convicted of felony charges in California, KTAR reported, and was on pre-trial release for an alleged burglary there at the time of the heist.
Investigators are reportedly looking for signs of a larger art theft operation, Arizona Family reported.
“Perhaps there was a buyer already in line for the pieces of art that were stolen,” Jim Egelston, a former FBI agent, told Arizona Family. “It would be very difficult to pawn items of priceless art that are very unique. It would be hard to sell those online.”
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