The Boulder Police Department announced Monday that they have recovered $400,000 in stolen American paintings.
On the evening of December 14, employees of a company that was transporting various works of art from Los Angeles to Englewood, CO and Santa Fe, New Mexico, spent the night at a hotel in Boulder. The next morning, they discovered that the lock on the truck had been opened. Five paintings, all by well-known American artists, were missing.
The paintings transported included one by Elaine de Kooning, famous for her abstract portraits of President John F. Kennedy, a bucolic painting by Jane Freilicher, and three landscapes depicting the towns of Taos and Laguna by well-known members of the Taos Society of Artists. .
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When patrol officer Patrick Meehan learned the artwork was in a Lakewood hotel room, the Boulder Police Department coordinated with their Lakewood colleagues to seize the opportunity.
A search of the room resulted in the recovery of all of the stolen artwork, still intact, as well as many other stolen items, including guns and electronic devices. In addition, agents recovered a large amount of drugs: nearly 2,000 fentanyl pills and 23 grams of methamphetamine.
The suspect has been identified as 31-year-old Brandon Camacho-Levine and has been booked on a series of charges totaling nearly 20.
The FBI also assisted in the investigation.
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“This is a prime example of the great police work our officers do every day in Boulder, and I couldn’t be more proud of Officer Meehan, the Patrol, the Special Enforcement Unit, and our partners at the Lakewood Police Department. No We only got this back the artwork is still intact, but we also got these deadly drugs off the street that plague our community,” said Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold.
The art adviser for the Colorado couple whose two paintings were stolen expressed outrage at the turn of events.
“My reaction was fury. I was so upset that they had been taken away,” said Colleen Fanning. “We were shocked and horrified and had no idea that something like this could happen.”
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Boulder police explained that the black market for stolen artwork is not as big as it used to be.
