East End art theft suspect denies charges

A day laborer did better as an art thief than he did in the art of the deal, Suffolk authorities said Friday.

Angel Palencia, 24, accused of stealing almost $600,000 worth of art from six exclusive East End summer homes, did not fare well when it came to selling the works, District Attorney Thomas Spota said.

One of the stolen paintings, "In the Vineyard" by Daniel Ridgway Knight, is valued at $140,000, but Spota said Palencia got just $1,500 for it when he sold it to Hidden Treasures Antiques in Mineola.

Palencia probably had no idea what he was taking, the district attorney said.

"I don't believe he had the sophisticated knowledge that he thought he had," Spota said of Palencia, who had worked in some of the homes he's accused of burglarizing. "He left behind some more valuable items, some jewelry. I think he was just grabbing."

Palencia pleaded not guilty Friday to an indictment charging him with six counts of second-degree burglary and one count of second-degree grand larceny. He faces up to 90 years in prison if convicted. Suffolk County Court Judge Stephen Braslow ordered him held on $500,000 bail.

The Medford man stole paintings, lithographs, a sterling silver tea set and a vintage French stamp collection, Suffolk prosecutors said, from homes in East Hampton, Southold, Shelter Island and Southampton over the winter.

At Palencia's modest home in Medford, there was little sign that it was a way station for stolen art. A woman who said she was his girlfriend declined to comment.

Police photos taken during their search, however, showed paintings in gilded frames leaning against walls, in closets and laid out on the kitchen table.

Palencia stole from expensive homes usually used as second residences on the East End, Assistant District Attorney Nancy Clifford said. He did carpentry work at a home he burglarized in Southold and worked for a painting contractor at another victim's home on Shelter Island, she said.

Spota praised the "outstanding police work" done on the case by East Hampton Village, Southold Town, Shelter Island Town, Southampton Village and Suffolk County police departments.

He said that Palencia has confessed to his role in the crimes.

Southold Town police arrested Palencia on April 6 after an art dealer in that town grew suspicious of him and the paintings he was trying to sell, Spota said. The dealer contacted an appraiser, who said the paintings were stolen, and Palencia was arrested when he returned to the dealer.

He successfully sold other paintings in Nassau County, Spota said.

Hidden Treasures Antiques did not respond to a request for comment. Another store where Spota said Palencia had sold art, USA Gold and Jewelry Exchange in Westbury, declined to comment. Spota said both stores cooperated with police.

Some of the stolen paintings are quite large. One of them, in its frame, is taller than Palencia. "He says he was acting alone," Spota said. "There's nobody who believes that."

Spota said police are looking at other suspects, but he declined to say whether other arrests were imminent. He also said other homes had been burglarized, based on the recovery of numerous paintings from Palencia's home that did not come from any of the six known victims.

With Kery Murakami