A crew of crooks who spent two decades swiping millions of dollars in cherished art and sports memorabilia — including nine of famed Yankee Yogi Berra’s World Series rings — has finally been busted, officials say.
The gang of 10 thieves — who struck small museums in a series of heists between 1999 and 2019 — was eventually nailed thanks in part to blood left on shards of glass at the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, NY, federal prosecutors said this week.
The bandits, all of whom are Pennsylvania residents in their 40s and 50s, made off with everything from the beloved late New York catcher’s rings to a jewel-encrusted, solid-gold championship boxing belt and pricey horse-racing trophies — as well as treasured artwork by Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock, according to the US attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
The ring of criminals — whose scheme spanned five states and raked in roughly $4 million worth of loot — has been indicted on charges including conspiracy to commit theft of major artwork and interstate transportation of stolen property, prosecutors announced.
In 2014, the men allegedly snatched nine of Berra’s 10 World Series rings during a 2014 break-in at the Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center in Little Falls, NJ.
During the quick-hit theft, they also swiped two of the legendary Bomber‘s MPV plaques and seven other championship rings for a total haul worth more than $1 million, prosecutors said.
At the time, Berra responded in classic style.
“Well, I know I own them,” he said, according to the New York Times.
Berra’s rings — along with the other jewelry, belts and trophies that the gang stole during its reign of thievery — were likely melted down into metal discs or bars and then sold in the New York City area for hundreds or thousands of dollars, officials said.
Many of the stolen paintings are still in the wind, authorities said.
Over the 20-year period, the thieves targeted at least 16 museums, including in other states such as Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and North Dakota, according to prosecutors.
“It’s like losing a child,” said Charles Barber, director of the Everhart Museum in Scranton, Pa., where the Warhol print “Le Grande Passion” and Pollack’s “Springs Winter” were stolen in 2005, to the Times.
“There’s a pain of loss. But now that they’ve identified the nine suspects in this case, it sort of gets a degree of closure.”
Barber said there’s always the possibility, however slim, that the paintings could be recovered.
“We would love to be able to host an exhibit that’s called: ‘Art once stolen, but now returned,’ ” Barber said.
In 2006, the thieves filched three antique firearms from the Space Farms: Zoo & Museum in Wantage, NJ, valued at a total of $1 million, prosecutors said.
In 2012, they snatched 14 trophies and other awards worth over $300,000 from the Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame, Goshen, NY, officials said.
“We would dearly love our things back,” Janet Terhune, the director of museum, told the Times on Thursday.
The next year, they allegedly stole five trophies valued at more than $400,000 from the National Racing Museum & Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, NY.
One of the alleged thieves, Nicholas Dombek, 53, later burned a $500,000 painting titled “Upper Hudson” by Jasper Cropsey, which was stolen in 2011, to prevent investigators from finding it, according to an indictment.
While breaking into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota in 2015, one of the thieves allegedly cut himself on a shard of broken window glass — helping cops track him down through his DNA nearly a decade later.
On Thursday, Dombek was indicted along with alleged accomplices Damien Boland, 47, Alfred Atsus, 47, and Joseph Atsus, 48.
Five other men including Thomas Trotta, 48, Frank Tassiello, 50, Daryl Rinker, 50, Dawn Trotta, 51, and Ralph Parry, 45 were also charged.
Dombek remained at large and is considered a fugitive, authorities said.
