Man caught on roof of Scottsdale gallery with stolen art worth $250,000 sentenced

PHOENIX — A man caught stealing from a Scottsdale art gallery last year has been sentenced to five years in prison, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office announced on Wednesday.

Harpreet Singh previously pleaded guilty to one count of theft after being caught on the roof of a gallery he he tried to steal art worth $250,000 from, prosecutors said.

The 34-year-old tried to steal seven pieces of art, including three by Pablo Picasso and two by Andy Warhol.

“Art heists may seem glamorous in the movies, but in Maricopa County, they end with a prison sentence instead of a dramatic getaway,” Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said in the announcement.

How did police catch Scottsdale art thief?

The Scottsdale Police Department detected Singh’s theft after an alarm went off at the American Fine Art Gallery in the early hours of Jan. 7, 2024. An employee called authorities after hearing the alarm, seeing the art was missing and hearing Singh in the upstairs office.

Police who responded to the scene at Scottsdale and Indian School roads saw Singh’s BMW parked directly below an emergency access ladder, prosecutors said. After setting up a perimeter, they found several art pieces scattered around, along with gloves, several tools and a face mask.

Eventually police found Singh hiding on the roof of a nearby gallery.

What else did Scottsdale art thief plead guilty to?

In addition to pleading guilty to theft, Sing also pled guilty to one count of interference with monitoring devices.

He cut off his ankle monitor about six week after he posted bond, prosecutors said. For this he was sentenced to 3.5 years of supervised probation.

“Thanks to the quick response from Scottsdale Police and MCAO prosecutors Richelle Burch and Jonathan Hutcheson, the only art this thief will be looking at for the next few years will be whatever’s etched on the walls of his cell,” Mitchell said.

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