When
a 300-year-old Stradivarius violin valued at more than $5 million was stolen
from Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Frank Almond last year,
investigators initially believed the theft may have been the work of
sophisticated art thieves. The truth turned out to be much less glamorous.
Still,
the tale of the theft and recovery of this rare instrument goes down in the
annals of the FBI’s Art Crime Team as a one-of-a-kind case.
When
Almond emerged from a back door of a
concert hall at Wisconsin Lutheran College
last January, where he had just performed, he was carrying the “Lipinski
Strad”—made by Antonio Stradivari in 1715 and later named for the Polish
violinist Karol Lipinski who played it. As Almond walked to his car, a man
approached, pulled a Taser from his coat, and fired. With Almond temporarily
incapacitated by the stun gun, the thief grabbed the Lipinski and fled to a
waiting vehicle. Hours later, Milwaukee Police Department officers found the
violin case discarded by the side of the road.
“There
was an automatic assumption the violin would be traveling interstate and then
most likely overseas,” said Special Agent Dave Bass, a member of the Art Crime
Team in the Bureau’s Milwaukee Division.
Aware of the cultural significance of the violin—and
that time was of the essence—the Milwaukee Police Department swiftly marshaled
its forces and requested the FBI’s assistance tracking down possible leads
outside Wisconsin. Special Agents Tim Bisswurm and Brian Due began gathering
information about the weapon used in the robbery, which led to one of the big
breaks in the case.
Using evidence found at the crime scene, agents were
able in a few days to trace the weapon from the manufacturer to the purchaser—a
Milwaukee barber named Universal Knowledge Allah.
At the same time, with the investigation in high gear
and a $100,000 reward available, police received a tip regarding Milwaukee
resident Salah Salahaydn. A week after the robbery, Allah and Salahaydn were
arrested and charged locally, but the violin and two valuable bows were still
missing.
“One of my big concerns was how the violin was being
stored,” Bass said. Because the delicate instrument might be critically harmed
by extreme cold or humidity, Bass and others were worried that it might be
irreparably damaged.
Nine days after the robbery, Salahaydn led
investigators to a Milwaukee home. With a borrowed ladder from the SWAT team,
Bass climbed through a crawl space into the attic and retrieved the violin and
the bows wrapped in a baby blanket inside an old suitcase.
“I am by no means a violin expert,” Bass said, “but
because of our training, I could make an informed opinion that in fact it was
the Lipinski. And
it appeared to be in great shape.”
Hours
after the Stradivarius was stolen, Milwaukee Police Department officers found
the violin's case discarded by the side of the road.
In May 2014, Allah pleaded guilty to felony robbery
for his role in providing the stun gun to Salahaydn. He is currently serving a
three-and-a-half-year prison term. Last November, Salahaydn was sentenced to
seven years in prison after earlier pleading guilty to the theft.
“My opinion is that the robbery was all about the
reward money,” Bass said. “I believe Salahaydn’s intention was never to sell
the violin. There are only a handful of people in the entire world who could do
that, and he’s not one of them.”
The
stolen violin was recovered in excellent condition.
And nearly two decades earlier, Salahaydn was linked
to a Milwaukee art theft and was later convicted of receiving stolen property
after he tried to sell the stolen $25,000 sculpture back to the gallery years
after the crime.
In the end, Bass said, the Stradivarius robbery scheme
was anything but sophisticated. The Taser was only good for one shot, and on a
winter night when people wear heavy coats, it was more luck than skill that the
weapon found its mark. Still, Salahaydn conducted extensive surveillance on
Almond and knew where he and his family lived. The crime was clearly
premeditated.
Almond, who has been playing the Lipinski since
2008—on loan from an anonymous donor—was thrilled to get the violin back. “This
was a fairly violent and traumatic event for me and my family,” he said recently.
“But there were silver linings as well, in large part because of the
unbelievable police work and cooperation between the Milwaukee Police
Department and the FBI. I will be indebted to all of them for the rest of my
life.”
When the violin was stolen, Almond said, “the
community really came together and saw what kind of cultural treasure was in
their midst.” Now, with all the publicity surrounding the case—and as the
Lipinski celebrates its 300th birthday this year—he explained, “people want to
hear the violin. There’s an interest in hearing the violin played live, and not
just locally.”
Almond showed his gratitude last month to
investigators who solved the case by taking part in a presentation at the FBI’s
Milwaukee headquarters and playing the Lipinski for members of the Bureau, an
FBI Citizens Academy group, and special guests from the Milwaukee Police
Department.
Bass, a 10-year veteran of the Art Crime Team,
explained that the Bureau worked “hand in hand” with the police department to
support their case and added that he has never seen an armed robbery of an
instrument of this value. “There are plenty of examples of theft—breaking into
a practice room, or the musician accidentally leaves the instrument
somewhere—but there has never been an instance I know of where someone walks up
to one of these world-class musicians and forcibly takes an instrument. We hope
that it never happens again.”
01/23/15
http://www.fbi.gov
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