A man who broke into the Dallas Museum of Art Wednesday night caused significant damage, destroying property, including three ancient Greek objects and a contemporary Native American piece before he was arrested, Dallas police said.
Brian Hernandez, 21, approached the museum’s glass front doors with a metal chair around 9:40 p.m., and began destroying objects once inside, police said.
Hernandez burst into a glass display case and broke a 6th century BC Greek amphora (a type of ceramic vase) and a 450 BC Greek box. The pieces together were valued at about $ 5 million, according to police, according to DMA security information. and Chief Operating Officer Kenneth Bennett.
But later on Thursday, the museum’s director, Agustín Arteaga, said in a statement that the DMA is working with insurers and that “we anticipate that the actual total could be a fraction of the original estimate of $ 5 million.”
A Dallas Police Department crime scene analyst photographs Brian Hernandez outside the Dallas Museum of Art after he was arrested Wednesday. (Notice Adelman)
Hernandez is also accused of destroying a 550-530 BC bowl that was valued at $ 100,000. Police said she also broke into a display case, grabbed a bottle of Caddo ceramic effigy representing an alligator and hit it on the ground, shattering it. The piece was valued at $ 10,000.
“Three Greek pottery vessels were severely damaged in addition to a piece of Native American contemporary pottery,” Arteaga said in the statement. “In addition, less than a dozen smaller pieces that were in the same glass box attacked could have suffered minor damage.”
The museum was open to the public on Thursday, including its “Cartier and Islamic Art” exhibition. Some permanent collection galleries were closed due to ongoing research.
The destroyed objects are among the more than 24,000 works in the DMA’s intercultural collection, which spans 5,000 years. Not all the more expensive items the museum has housed. For eight months in 2012, a painting by Leonardo da Vinci is now considered the most valuable work of art in the world resting on an easel in a warehouse in the building. It was sold at auction to the Saudi Crown Prince for a record $ 450.3 million in 2017.
Broken glass is at the entrance to the DMA Wednesday night. Police said the suspect approached the museum in a metal chair before entering. (Elias Valverde II / Staff Photographer)
Hernandez was read his rights and confessed to officers, police said. He was charged with a felony charge of $ 300,000 or more. The bail has not been determined.
The museum noted that Hernandez acted alone and unarmed, adding that his purpose was not to steal any artwork.
A DMA security guard found Hernandez in the museum lobby after a motion sensor went off and stopped him before calling police. Police said Hernandez also called 911 from inside the museum. Police responded around 10:10 p.m.
Hernandez is being held in Dallas County Jail, Dallas police said Thursday.
The guard told police Hernandez said he “got angry with his girlfriend, so he went in and started destroying property,” police said.
The museum is open to the public on Thursday, including its “Cartier and Islamic Art” exhibition. Some permanent collection galleries are closed while police investigate. (Elias Valverde II / Personal Photographer)
Police said Bennett, the DMA’s director of security and operations, showed them a video of the suspect damaging and destroying the museum’s property. In addition to the artwork, Hernandez is accused of causing tens of thousands of dollars in damage to other property, including shop windows, furniture, a computer and telephones.
“While we are devastated by this incident, we are grateful that no one has been harmed. The safety of our staff and visitors, along with the care and protection of the art in our management, are our top priorities,” he said. the museum.
Mary McDermott Cook, a member of the board of the DMA, whose parents donated or made available to the museum thousands of works of art, had a first-hand account of vandalism Thursday morning by museum director Augustine Arteaga. The call “hurt my stomach,” Cook said.
“I feel like everything has gone crazy, and that’s something that has gone crazy,” he said. “But what I also said is, ‘Let’s face it. It’s just things. No one was hurt. And we have the technology and the experience to put things back together.’ And thank God for that.”
Michael Granberry and Maggie Prosser contributed to this report.