Sockless Picasso Pilferer Arrested in San Francisco

AP
Uri Friedman 2,050 Views Jul 7, 2011

San Francisco police say they've nabbed a New Jersey man in connection with the theft of a $200,000 Picasso sketch in broad daylight from an art gallery in San Francisco on Tuesday, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Police Chief Greg Suhr announced today that the 30-year-old suspect, Mark Lugo of Hoboken, N.J., arrived in San Francisco on the Fourth of July and was arrested at a friend's house in Napa last night. The police believe Lugo (pictured in a police handout above), whose only criminal history is an alcohol-related arrest, wanted to ship the artwork to an unknown party. He's being charged with suspicion of burglary, theft, possession of stolen property, and--interestingly enough--drug possession. On Thursday, Investigators showed off the recovered artwork, which was missing its frame when it was found in Lugo's possession:

Officials say the thief, whose distinguishing characteristic was wearing loafers and no socks, snatched the piece--a 1965 pencil-on-paper drawing titled "Tete de Femme"--a little before noon on Tuesday and then fled to a waiting taxi. A surveillance camera at a nearby restaurant captured a man the police say is Lugo casually carrying framed artwork under his arm (he comes in 12 seconds into the clip): 

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at ufriedman at theatlantic dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.

Sources

Topics:
Elsewhere on the Web

User Comments

Please type your comment and click Post. If you’re not already logged in you will be prompted to log in or register

  • The Atlantic Wire on Twitter
  • The Atlantic Wire RSS Feed
  • The Atlantic Wire iPhone App