Stolen Make-A-Wish Foundation statue found damaged in Phoenix, suspect arrested
Jan 11, 2023, 12:00 PM
Troy Burke (Maricopa County Sheriff's Office Mugshot, left, Phoenix Police Department Photo, right)
(Maricopa County Sheriff's Office Mugshot, left, Phoenix Police Department Photo, right)
PHOENIX — A stolen Make-A-Wish Foundation statue was found damaged in Phoenix and a suspect was arrested, authorities said Wednesday.
Troy Burke, 32, faces multiple felony charges after Phoenix Police arrested him in connection with the Jan. 3 theft.
The statue had been standing outside the Make-A-Wish Foundation headquarters near Highland Avenue and 16th Street.
Burke and another suspect, who police are still searching for, are accused of forcibly removing the statue from its fixed position and driving off with it.
The statue is of Chris Greicius, a 6-year-old boy who died of leukemia in 1980 after the Department of Public Safety granted him his wish to be a police officer for a day.
Make-A-Wish was co-founded by Greicius’ mother, Linda Pauling. The foundation granted its first official wish in 1981.
Only a portion of the statue was recovered, according to police.
Burke faces two counts of fraud, one count of theft of stolen property and one count of drug offenses.
Anyone with information on the other suspect should call the Phoenix Police Department at 602-262-6151 or Silent Witness at 480-948-6377 for English and 480-837-8446 for Spanish.
