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| Jail officers indicted in surreal Dali theft |
| By Daily News |
| Published: 06/16/2003 |
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Rikers Island officers who allegedly stole a Salvador Dali painting from a jail entrance have been indicted, the Daily News reported. A Bronx grand jury handed down a sealed felony indictment within the last week, and the officers are scheduled to turn themselves in Tuesday, according to The News. The painting by Salvador Dali, the Spanish Surrealist, has not been recovered. Dali dashed off the painting in 1965, when a fever forced him to cancel a visit to Rikers. The portrayal of the crucifixion was once appraised at $175,000. The Dali caper was discovered March 1, when an alert correction officer guarding the entrance to the Eric M. Taylor Center on Rikers noticed something odd about the familiar painting. Within hours, investigators discovered that the original had been replaced by a shoddy copy, and a rare fire drill the night before apparently staged to cover the theft became a focus of the probe. Investigators were told that four Correction Department employees at the Taylor Center were involved, sources said. It's not yet clear who among them have been indicted, or what the exact charges are. The drill was ordered by Benny Nuzzo, an assistant deputy warden with 24 years in the department, sources said. Nuzzo has proclaimed his innocence and told friends he called the drill because an alarm the night before was ignored. That drill, which investigators were told was a test run for the caper, was called by Mitchell Hochhauser, another assistant deputy warden, sources said. Investigators were told that two correction officers on the overnight shift also were involved: Timothy Pina and Greg Sokol. Spokesmen for the Bronx district attorney and the city Investigation Department, which worked together on the probe, declined to comment. |
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