Police: Man ‘mad at his girl’ destroyed $5 million in art at Dallas museum
DALLAS – Police in Dallas, Texas, arrested a man accused of breaking into the Dallas Museum of Art and destroying ancient artifacts.
Brian Hernandez is accused of using a metal chair to break into the museum at around 9:45 p.m. Wednesday, and then starting to damage works of art inside, The Associated Press reported.
Police told KDFW that Hernandez successfully eluded security guards inside the museum, while smashing glass cases and ancient Greek items inside them.
According to arrest paperwork obtained by KXAS, security guards told police that they found Hernandez after a motion sensor went off. When he was approached, the guards asked him what he was doing, and he allegedly told them that “he got mad at his girl so he broke in and started destroying property,” the station reported.
“It was someone that seemed to be angry, and his purpose was to get his anger exercised with the smashing, anything that he could find of glass,” Agustin Arteaga, the museum’s director, told KDFW. “He went through other spaces and did not hurt any other works, didn’t touch anything, didn’t have the intention of stealing anything. It was just his anger that drove that person to do what it did.”
Among the items destroyed were a 6th-century B.C. Greek amphora, a Greek pot dating to 450 B.C., a bowl from 6th century B.C., and a ceramic Caddo effigy bottle, the AP reported. The amphora and the Greek pot were estimated to be worth approximately $5 million, with the estimated worth of the bowl and bottle being $110,000.
“The items inside of the display cases that were destroyed are rare ancient artifacts that are extremely precious and one of a kind,” police said in the affidavit, KXAS reported.
“Honestly, it’s really saddening,” Amail Beimenec, a visitor to the museum on Thursday, told KDFW. “I am a big fan of the DMA, it has such historical art. It’s a tragic event to the whole Dallas community and we hope they can recover.”
In a statement, the Dallas Museum of Art said it was grateful nobody was hurt and that as the investigation continues, some of the permanent collection galleries will be closed.
