Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Courtney Orton reportingAuthorities have found some of the artwork that was stolen from three different galleries in the past several months. Three different agencies have been working to find the stolen artwork, and so far, they've found most of it.
Yesterday, detectives dropped off four of the nine prints that were stolen on two different occasions from the Canyon Gallery in Fruit Heights. With the exception of a few dents and scrapes on the frames, the James Christensen paintings are in good condition.
Davis County sheriff's deputies say these paintings had been sold to a collector who likely had no idea the artwork was stolen.
Darren Peel, the owner of the gallery, is just happy to have them back. He's hopeful he'll get the rest back too. "[I'm] very happy that they've been working hard and have been able to recover some of them. [I'm] hoping to see more. We'll see," he said.
Thousands of dollars worth of art was also taken from the Repartee Art Gallery in Salt Lake and a gallery in Saratoga Springs. Detectives from those cities say some of the artwork has been recovered, but they are still trying to find the remaining pieces.
Police say a man is in custody, but because formal charges have not been filed against him, they are not releasing his name. He is currently being held at the prison, not the jail, because he was picked up on a routine traffic stop and held on a separate parole violation.
The man has been convicted of burglary before, and police say he has admitted to stealing the paintings and has cooperated in leading them to the stolen artwork. Authorities could file charges against the man as soon as tomorrow.
E-mail: corton@ksl.com
