Goya theft update

More on this story today from the NY Times:

Federal investigators have concluded that thieves armed with detailed shipping information were behind the removal of a Goya painting from a truck en route to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum from Ohio last week, law enforcement officials said Friday.

But on what basis? The article continues:

The 1778 painting, “Children With a Cart,” was packed inside several nested crates aboard a locked unmarked truck used by a professional art transporter. The crated painting was removed from an outer shipping container in the truck while it was parked at a Howard Johnson Inn near Bartonsville, Pa.

The two drivers checked into the hotel around 11 p.m. on Nov. 7, according to the motel manager, Faizal Bhimani. He said the white midsize truck was left in an unlighted parking lot adjacent to the hotel, out of sight of the hotel’s rooms and the main office.

When the drivers returned to the truck at about 6:30 a.m. on Nov. 8, the locks had been broken and the painting, insured for $1 million, was gone, law enforcement officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Mr. Bhimani said the hotel’s night clerk had neither seen nor heard anything suspicious.

The more information that comes out, the more it suggests a typical crime of opportunity. Here's a good-sized unmarked truck of the sort antiques dealers use, in a region heavily traversed by antiques dealers, parked off in the corner of a motel lot. The crooks rock it a bit and then pry open the back, sitting back for a while periodically to make sure there's no alarm (antiques dealers are typically really stupid about this: you'd think they'd all have their transport vehicles equipped with paging alarms, but no -- and it seems the high-end art transporters aren't any smarter). They find a container inside which was probably too difficult to remove entire, so they break it open and find an easily transportable crated painting inside, probably bearing Toledo Museum markings on the crate, load it in their van and off they go.

From what the article says, conspiracy theorists should be looking at the drivers, not stalking master criminals; personally, I'm more inclined to believe it a case of sloppiness and stupidity (in abundant supply) taken advantage of by opportunistic predators (also, alas, in abundant supply):

Investigators have conducted extensive interviews with the drivers, asking, among other questions, why they left the truck unattended when operating procedures for most art transport companies require that trucks carrying valuable art objects never be left unattended.

Investigators have also asked the drivers why they stopped overnight on a trip that could have been completed in a single day. Officials said the drivers replied that they were scheduled to arrive in Manhattan around midday on Nov. 8 and did not want to arrive too early and wait in New York until the assigned time.

Further background on what security measures one would have expected to be in place, but clearly were not:

Thomas J. Carney, president of Midwest Fine Arts Service and Transportation, a company based in Berea, Ohio, that did not ship the Goya, said reputable shippers normally exercise great care in handling and shipping fine art and antiquities.

He said trucks with multiple locks are monitored by satellite, which records the location of the vehicle, whether the engine is on or off, and even how fast the engine is running. However, individual artworks are not usually tagged with tracking devices, he said.

Posted by David on November 18, 2006 3:50 PM