The wheels of justice move slowly, but they do move. Just ask the truck driver from New Jersey who just got busted for stealing a Goya.
Flashback to almost a year ago, when I posted THIS entry. The gist of it is that a valuable painting by Goya was stolen while the transport vehicle was left unattended in the parking lot of a motel in the Poconos. A few days later, I posted THIS update when the painting had been found.
Now comes THIS update, in which an arrest has been made. The suspect? A self-employed trucker from New Jersey. It seems he saw an opportunity to steal the painting, allegedly did so, but then suddenly "discovered" the painting in his basement when he realized it was too hot to handle. Now he's under arrest (why did it take a year to charge him?) and, according to the article, has decided to "not immediately contest his detainment." I guess that means he likes the food in jail?? And here's me, thinking that maybe it was an inside job. Never overestimate the criminal element.
Anyway, the questions I posted in the previous post remain. Specifically, what's the deal with these professional art transporters? I still don't understand why these people had to stop for the night - at a HoJo's, no less - in the Poconos when it's only a 9 hour drive from Toledo, where the painting was, to Manhattan, where it was being taken. I don't understand why two people couldn't make that trip in one shot. And, since they did stop, why are they leaving a valuable painting unattended?
Just another thing I don't get about art, I guess.