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NEWS > U.S.A. > REMBRANDT STOLEN FROM L.A. HOTEL, WASSERMAN STOLEN FROM L.A. MOTEL
REMBRANDT STOLEN FROM L.A. HOTEL, WASSERMAN STOLEN FROM L.A. MOTEL
August 16 2011
Los Angeles, CA – It was a real life heist movie. Late Saturday night a thief snuck into the prestigious Ritz-Carlton and made off with a drawing with a quarter of a million dollars. The drawing had been hanging in the lobby of the hotel under lock and key, but somehow the thief managed to distract the guardians and made off with the one-of-a-kind treasure.
The theft was most certainly bold but was of course not the first of its kind. As long as expensive painting remain accessible to the public there will always be someone willing to try and snag them. While police scour the area for the thief or thieves involved with the snatching, a similar incident happened across town at a Hollywood Motel 6 where thieves made off with a similarly unique Wasserman painting from one of the local rooms.
“We see things go missing all the time, mostly towels and shampoo, but this is the first time we have had an incident like this. It is very shocking, we are very surprised and very distressed about the whole thing,” said motel manager Cyndi. “It was a wonderful painting and the artist has long passed away. We are very saddened by the whole thing. It was irreplaceable.”
The Rembrandt was recovered at a church in Encino. The Wasserman, valued at eight dollars, has not been found.
“We have the Rembrandt at the station evidence lockup...we are now seeking to authenticate it is a Rembrandt with other sources,” said a police spokesperson. “In regards to other thefts in the city I have no information. We are pleased that this piece has been recovered.”
A tipster apparently suggested that the Wasserman was located in a dumpster in Beverly Hills but nothing was found upon inspection.
“There is intrinsically a danger when keeping valuables of any kind in reach of the public. Obviously when it comes to an expensive and rare painting like this Rembrandt serious precautions need to be taken, but thieves will steal anything they believe they can make money off, even lesser known artists,” said Scrape TV Crime analyst Willard Weston. “The best option is to secure your valuables. If you are going to place paintings in a room affix them to the wall. A little glue would have prevented the loss of this Rembrandt and the Wasserman. Lesson learned I guess.”
There are about 700 drawings confirmed to be Rembrandts. The Wasserman was apparently the only known to exist.
“The good thing about the theft of paintings is that it is very difficult to fence the product. There are usually only a handful of people who are able to afford such a thing and they need to be approached directly. It’s not as though you can simply put it up for auction. That makes these thefts usually quite easy to resolve,” continued Weston. “That doesn’t mean they will all be found. Obviously there was a lot of attention paid to the Rembrandt but similar attention is not being paid to the Wasserman. It’s possible the thief will just sit on it, wait a few years, and when the time is right make off like a bandit for a second time, unless of course police make more of an effort.”
Wasserman’s family has apparently put up a ten dollar reward for the return of the painting.
Mike Michaels, American Correspondent
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