Stolen antiques investigation goes on

Deepa Bharath

Police are still looking for several antiques stolen from a local

storage facility more than three months ago and for suspects in the

burglary, officials said.

The pieces, some of them several feet tall, were reportedly

removed from two security lockers at Shurgard Storage Centers in the

1600 block of Newport Boulevard.

Police said two of the storage units were broken into some time

between Feb. 26 and March 3.

“The padlocks were broken, entry was made and the artifacts were

removed,” Costa Mesa Police Lt. Dale Birney said. “The loss was

extensive.”

At the time of the incident, the victim reported a loss of more

than $100,000, according to the police report. Some of the items have

been recovered, Birney said, but he declined to go into details.

Police also arrested 43-year-old Joel Whitney Gruwell of Corona

del Mar in connection with the burglary. Gruwell has been charged

with commercial burglary and receiving stolen property.

The owner of the property, who did not want to be identified, said

the stolen artifacts are invaluable and very dear to him and his

family.

“These are all authentic items,” he said. “They bear a deep

personal significance.”

He said he initially estimated the value of the stolen goods at

more than $100,000, but now realizes that they are worth more than

$750,000. The victim said the items were not insured because

insurance rates were “prohibitively expensive.”

The victim said he and his family lived in Newport Beach for 13

years, but they now live elsewhere in Orange County.

One of the stolen artifacts, a golden Buddha from the 18th

century, was acquired by the family on the day of his father’s

funeral, the man said.

He said the fateful day he walked into the storage unit is “burned

in my mind.”

“There was an Italian chest on the right-hand side of the room,”

he said. “There were a couple of boxes of cheap books, a chair and a

mirror. Other than that, it was empty.”

That room had been filled with an array of items, the victim said.

There were relics from the last empress of China, the Chinese

Imperial family and the Ming dynasty, he said.

There were ornate pieces of period furniture, enamel vases,

porcelain jars, embroidered robes, room-size rugs, 9-foot altar

tables, 5-foot gold peacocks and several pieces of jewelry. But they

were all gone.

“How they took it, I don’t know,” the victim said. “It took me two

40-foot trucks and nine men to bring in the art collection to the

storage facility.”

In addition, the storage facility had security cameras and

elevators that required codes to be punched in, he said. Shurgard

officials did not return phone calls Friday.

More than the monetary value, the collection is of enormous

sentimental and spiritual value, the victim said.

“There were crucifixes, temple guardians, objects of spiritual and

religious revelations,” he said. “We regarded ourselves as curators

and caretakers of these artifacts.”

Birney said the investigation into the incident is continuing.

“There are still several things to be looked at,” he said. “This

case is unusual just because of the uniqueness of the property that

was taken. Such cases have a tendency to take a life of their own. In

these cases, you just go where the information takes you.”