A $1.5 million Buddha statue that was stolen from a Beverly Grove-area gallery was recovered and a suspect was arrested on suspicion of receiving stolen property, police said Wednesday.
Justin Livick, 44, was arrested Saturday, when the nearly 250-pound statue was also recovered, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
It was unclear exactly where the statue was found, and it remained unclear who actually pilfered the statue in the early morning hours of Sept. 18 from the Barakat Gallery in the 900 block of North La Cienega Boulevard, between Melrose Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard.
According to jail records, Livick was booked Saturday night then cited and released early Sunday morning. He was given a tentative court date of Oct. 19.
Police said the statue was stolen around 3:45 a.m. Sept. 18.
Gallery owner Fayez Barakat told KTLA5 the statue was from Japan’s Edo Period of 1603-1867.
“I prize it so much,” Barakat told the station. “I had it in the backyard of my home, and when I moved into this gallery, I put it in the backyard of the gallery for everybody to admire and enjoy.”
According to surveillance video, the suspect broke into the entrance through a driveway gate and used a dolly to move the statue onto a truck within 25 minutes.
“This gentleman came and, I think, strapped a rope or a chain around that piece and pulled it to his rental van and put it in the back,” Barakat told Channel 5, adding that he was “heartbroken” by the theft.
Paul Henderson, director of Barakat’s Los Angeles location, told theartnewspaper.com that museum officials were “shocked” that a lone thief managed to steal the 4-foot-tall statue despite its weight and drive off with it in a Budget rental truck.
“We’re all very puzzled,” Henderson told the website. “Obviously this is a high-valued piece, it’s important, and aesthetically it’s a very interesting and unique item. It’s clearly a temple sculpture from that period, and the size and the execution make it a very rare item, so it’s not something you’d find on the market, which means it’s not something that could be resold easily.
“We’re still trying to figure out what the motive was and what the thief thinks they’re going to do with this piece.”
An artist named Tadazou Iinuma is credited with creating the sculpture, the international art website reported.
It bears an inscription, which translated reads “Produced by Tadazou Iinuma, first year of Shouho, Kanoe. Prayed for and requested by Ryozen, master of Shingon religious party, Dainichi-Nyorai, Yudo-no-San Temple, of the highest social class.”
The inscription implies the sculpture was commissioned by a religious official named Ryozen and was likely once installed at the Yudo-no-San Temple, a holy site on Japan’s Mount Yudono, the online publication reported.
“I hope that the person who stole it is not stealing it for the weight of bronze because it’s a historical item,” Barakat told KTLA. “Whoever stole it, maybe that person understood the value. Probably, they commissioned somebody, a thief of some kind, to just go ahead and steal it.”
In addition to the Los Angeles location, Barakat also has galleries in London and Seoul.
Anyone with information about the theft was urged to contact the Los Angeles Police Department at 1-877-275-5273.
The reason for letting the criminal(s) go and protecting their identity is something C+C Music Factory would call one of those things that makes you go, hmmmm… Oh, never mind, it must have been Jean Valjean who had to steal the $1.5 million Buddha statue so his sister’s child would not starve.
You neglected to understand the beginning of the 3rd paragraph that reads,
“It was unclear exactly where the statue was found, and it remained unclear who actually pilfered the statue…”
Whatever Karma attributed to the Buddha seems to be reaching out from the past. Similar to the recently exposed financial transgressions of Donald Trump. In AG Letitia James’s quest to relieve Trump of his hyper inflated NY properties brings to mind the possibility that the karma attached to of one of Trump’s original bad deeds is contained in the cornerstone of Trump Tower. Trump originally stiffed the Polish workers that did the demolition of the original 1929 landmark Warren & Wetmore Bonwit Teller. Furthermore, he directed that the Art Deco frieze atop the building also be demolished despite having been… Read more »
And which U.S. president has, to date, supplied a foreign land with $75 billion American dollars for profit? TRUMP 2024!
This sounds like the script to every Hollywood horror movie, like “The Mummy,” where someone steals something without knowing it’s got super powers, and then it comes back and destroys them. Let’s see what happens here.
an observation — it is not “priceless” if it has a specific estimated value
Odd BUDDHA DID NOT PRACTICE WEALTH AND GREED AND STEALING
Entire concept is gonna bring thieves bad karma
Very disappointing to hear this. Mr. Baraket has a superb collection but was unaware some of his inventory was situated outside at the rear of the building. Perhaps it needs less exposure from the drive and alley ways.
It’s just a free for all at this point. Total lawlessness brought to you by the D party.
Wait till you find out republicans are nominating a career criminal with nearly 100 felony indictments. Who’s promoting lawlessness again?
Senator Menendez from New Jersey?
How about George (whoever I am) Santos?
Whoever stolen this Buddha statue must have been the same people who stole a large elephant statue from the front of a Newport Beach restaurant many years ago.The police at that time figured kids took the elephant statue using a crane on a truck.There were few clues and there was no ransom demand. The elephant statue was found days later stuck in the sand on a nearby beach.The statue was bought back to the front of the restaurant,but was secured with a large chain afterwards. Because of the worth of this Buddha statue,kids are probably not involved this time and… Read more »
How could you possibly assume that connection?