A man has been caught on camera walking out of the Dennis Rae Fine Art Gallery in San Francisco, with a Salvador Dali "Burning Giraffe" piece valued at $20,000 in hand.
Henry K. Lee, a crime reporter, has posted a surveillance camera video on his Twitter showing the alleged suspect as well as the photo of the stolen artwork.
He was caught on video stealing a Salvador Dali etching from Dennis Rae Fine Art on Geary in @UnionSquareSF. Recognize him? @SFPD investigating pic.twitter.com/QQRDVvRULc
— Henry K. Lee (@henrykleeKTVU) October 15, 2019
Here’s what the $20K etching looked like. Thief stole it from Dennis Rae Fine Art in @UnionSquareSF (see VIDEO in thread) pic.twitter.com/JDfrqLv4TE
— Henry K. Lee (@henrykleeKTVU) October 15, 2019
According to Dennis Rae Fine Art director Rasjad Hopkins, the surveillance camera at the gallery was turned off at the moment of the theft.
The director also added that the engraving was not secured with a tether that day, even though that is normally the case. He called the entire situation a 'theft of opportunity'.
According to another gallery director Angela Kellett, the piece is too rare to be sold online.
