Oakland Museum of California burglarized; more than 1,000 priceless items stolen

By Katie Nielsen

It’s not exactly the jewelry heist of the Louvre in Paris, but the Oakland Museum of California says thieves made off with more than 1,000 priceless objects from their collection.

The museum has the largest collection of items with significant California-specific history – mostly objects used in everyday life throughout the history of the state. 

The director, Lori Fogarty, says the objects that were stolen are priceless in terms of historical value, but not something that would be incredibly valuable in terms of selling on the black market.

“We have one of the greatest holdings of California history anywhere,” Fogerty said, adding that the museum’s collection includes more than 2,000,000 items, only a handful of which can be on display at any given time.

“We in our collection have over 5,000 Native American baskets,” Fogarty said. 

Many of the items in the museum’s collection are stored in an off-site warehouse, which is where burglars broke in sometime late into the night on Oct. 15, or the early morning of Oct. 16.

“It is heartbreaking for people who really dedicate their careers to preserving and stewarding and caring for and presenting objects of cultural and artistic importance,” Fogarty said.

Some of the items stolen include an old photograph, some jewelry, a woven Native American basket, and scrimshaws –intricate ivory carvings – leading Fogarty to believe this was probably a crime of opportunity.

“I think it is very possible that the people who stole these items don’t really know themselves what they have,” Fogarty said. 

Stealing from a museum is a federal offense, so the FBI Art Crime Team is investigating along with the Oakland Police Department. CBS Bay Area spoke with former FBI agent Jeff Harp about the specialized task force. 

“It’s a small cadre of agents across the nation, probably less than 20,” Harp said. “They have a lot of expertise in how these deals are done where a lot of times these irreplaceable art pieces are sold. Sometimes it’s done underground, but these guys have a good network of informants and information that allows them to track this stuff.”

In 2012 and 2013, a man broke into the museum itself, stealing items from the Gold Rush exhibit both times. Oakland police were able to catch the suspect when a pawn shop owner in Chinatown recognized a stolen jewelry box and called police.

Fogarty hopes that by releasing photos of some of the items stolen two weeks ago, eagle-eyed members of the public might be able to help the museum recover them.

“If people are at swap meets or they’re at auctions or they’re in a pawn shop or antiques store and something looks off, please let us know,” she said. 

Anyone with information about the heist can also contact Oakland police.