A burglary ring that stole millions of dollars of cherished artwork and some of America’s most prized sports memorabilia in a 20-year criminal scheme has finally been caught, according to officials.
Nine people from rural Lackawanna County in Pennsylvvania have been charged with stealing priceless collectibles, paintings and other valuables including an Andy Warhol silkscreen, a Jackson Pollock painting, and as many as 20 World Series rings.
The suspects, eight men and a woman, allegedly managed to escape police as they broke into museums and institutions in six states between 1999 and 2019, per the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
The Justice Department announced the charges last month, nearly 20 years after thieves broke into the Everhart Museum in Pennsylvania and stole Warhol’s La Grande Passion, worth about $15,000 and Pollock’s Springs Winter, worth around $11 million.
According to authorities, the alleged ring melted some of the items they pilfered down into metal discs and bars in order to avoid detection.
A burglary ring that stole millions of dollars in some of America’s most prized memorabilia has been caught. The ring stole a fortune worth of goods from the Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center in New Jersey in 2014, including nine World Series rings. (Berra is pictured)
Nicholas Dombek, 53, pondered whether he should poison one of his alleged accomplices as police were closing in on him
Police say Dombek burned late American artist Jasper Cropsey’s landscape, Upper Hudson, worth approximately $500,000, to avoid investigators using it as evidence
They then sold the melted items for hundreds of thousands of dollars – significantly less than they would be worth in their original form.
Authorities named the suspects as Nicholas Dombek, 53, Damien Boland, 47, Alfred Atsus, 47, Joseph Atsus, 48, Thomas Trotta, 48, Frank Tassiello, 50, Daryl Rinker, 50, Dawn Trotta, 51, and Ralph Parry, 45.
Police say Dombek burned late American artist Jasper Cropsey’s landscape, Upper Hudson, worth approximately $500,000, to avoid investigators using it as evidence. The artwork was taken from the Ringwood Manor in Ringwood, New Jersey in 2011.
The gang is also believed to have stolen a fortune worth of goods from the Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center in New Jersey in 2014.
They took nine World Series rings, seven other championship rings, and two most valuable player (MVP) plaques awarded to late Yankees catcher Berra, per officials.
Other valuables stolen by the ring include six championship belts awarded to late American boxers Carmen Basilio and Tony Zale that were stolen from the International Boxing Hall of Fame in New York state bac in 2015.
The thieves also allegedly stole an MVP trophy given to former baseball player Roger Maris, a U.S. Amateur Trophy won by golf great Ben Hogan and the 1903 Belmont Stakes Trophy.
An antique shotgun, gold nuggets, a Tiffany lamp, and other jewelry re also among the stolen goods.
After staling the items, the ring would take the valuables to Dombek’s Pennsylvania home, where they would melt them to sell the pieces to people in New York City, per police. Other items would be sold as they were or hidden.
The gang broke into the Everhart Museum in Pennsylvania and stole Warhol’s La Grande Passion, worth about $15,000 and Pollock’s Springs Winter, worth around $11 million
The thieves also allegedly stole an MVP trophy given to former baseball player Roger Maris, and the 1903 Belmont Stakes Trophy (a different Belmont Trophy pictured above)
Dombek, believed to be the leader of the operation, reportedly turned to intimidation when authorities were closing in.
Police were alerted to the massive theft case after one of the suspects, Trotta, was arrested for a DUI and began cooperating with authorities.
Trotta even worked with police to return some of the stolen items, including a portrait of the wife of art critic Daniel Cusick taken from his home in 2019.
He wore a recorder as he and Dombek discussed the robberies they had gotten away with – as well as potential police informants, with Domback reportedly pondering if he should poison one of the defendants with a toxic plant.
Dombek is the only of thee suspects who remains at large.
The suspects are charged with conspiracy to commit theft of major artwork, concealment or disposal of objects of cultural heritage, and interstate transportation of stolen property.
Ralph Parry, Francesco Tassiello and Daryl Rinker have already pled guilty to the charges against them. Parry and Tassiello worked as drivers for the criminal operation, per their indictments.
Two of the suspects, including Trotta, have plea hearings on Wednesday, and three others are scheduled for trial later this year.
DailyMail.com has reached out to the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania for additional details.
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