AZUSA — Police Friday announced the arrest of three West Covina residents in connection with the theft of about $60,000 worth of paintings from a storage locker.
Evelyn Siu, 31, was arrested Friday, while Louie Hernandez, 38, and Arthur Lopez, 48, were arrested Monday after being found in possession of 57 paintings stolen Nov. 2 from an Azusa storage locker in the 1000 block of West Gladstone Street, Azusa police Sgt. Tim Harrington said.
Each was arrested on suspicion of possession of stolen property following the service of search warrants at their respective homes, police said.
The paintings were being stored at the Azusa storage facility following the closure of a Los Angeles art gallery when they were stolen in a burglary, the sergeant said.
Detectives investigating the break-in developed information that Hernandez and Lopez were trying to sell the paintings and launched an investigation into them, according to Harrington.
Officers served search warrants Monday at the men’s West Covina homes, recovering the majority of the pilfered artwork, police said. Most of them were found in Lopez’s house.
Further investigation led officers to the home of Siu, where more paintings were found, Harrington said.
Detectives believed they’d recovered most, if not all, of the missing paintings, he added.
According to county booking records, all three suspects were released from jail pending trial after posting $20,000 bail each.