Yesterday, the Hoboken, NJ resident accused of stealing the Picasso sketch, "Tête de Femme," from a San Francisco gallery pleaded not guilty to charges. Mark Lugo, who had worked as a sommelier at BLT Fish, will also be in trouble if and when he ever makes it back home: NJ police found many stolen artworks in his apartment. Hoboken police sergeant Sam Williams told the NY Times, "Some were hanging on his walls, some propped up around the apartment. The way it sounds, he just likes art."
The San Francisco theft occurred on July 5, but the NYPD believes that Lugo was stealing sketches and drawings from New York galleries and hotels in the preceding weeks. A Fernand Léger 1917 ink-on-linen drawing, "Composition aux element mecaniques," was swiped from the Carlycle Hotel on July 27 (it's worth $350,000), while the 1933 Picasso etching "Sculpteur et Deux Têtes" (worth $30,000) was taken from the William Bennett Gallery—both were found in Lugo's apartment. Lugo was allegedly just plucking the works from the walls.
Lugo is being held on $5 million in San Francisco; his lawyer, Douglas Horngrad, said it was too high, blaming "overhyped media" and pointing out, "There are murder cases in this county where bail is not set at $5 million." However, Judge Samuel Feng said, "Public safety is absolutely something this court should be concerned about." Lugo also has a currently pending case involving the theft of $6,000 of wine.
Horngrad offered his hypothesis, "All the things that were taken were apparently taken in the last 45 days. That speaks more to a burst of compulsive energy than someone who has the ability and the sophistication to go out and fence these paintings."
As for gallery owners whose works were stolen: They're upgrading their security systems.
