Stolen Artwork Recovered In New Haven
From left, New Haven Police Sgt. Stephen Shea, Assistant Police Chief Peter Reichard, lead detective Scott Branfuhr and Matthew Prinz were on hand to answer questions about the recovered artworks. Three of the pieces — items No. 10, 12 and 14 — belonged to David Gelernter, the Yale professor who was a victim of the Unabomber, police said. Police said they seized 39 pieces of stolen art and six firearms. (RICHARD MESSINA / HARTFORD COURANT / March 23, 2009)
NEW HAVEN — – The paintings, photos and prints arrived one or two at a time at the brick home on Sylvan Avenue.
The man who brought them allegedly stole them from places around New Haven, including the city’s public library and the Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale University. Inside the second-floor apartment at 24 Sylvan Ave., the 53-year-old man would trade the pieces for $30 to $40 worth of heroin, police said.
Two of the three paintings stolen from the Slifka Center were by David Gelernter, a Yale computer science professor who was seriously wounded by the Unabomber. The third was by Gelernter’s son Daniel. Together, police said Monday, the paintings are valued at $40,000.
The man also allegedly took prints from the New Haven Public Library on March 5, including one called “Elm City” by Tony Falcone. Those pieces were valued at $6,000, police said.
Police raided [an] apartment at 12:30 a.m. Saturday and found Bruno Nestir, 47, as well as 39 paintings, photos and prints, two shotguns, two rifles, two revolvers, $987 in cash, and heroin and marijuana packaged for sale. Nestir was held on drug charges and possession of stolen property. Police are now working on an arrest warrant for the man they say stole the paintings.