Hello, Dali: Officers Find 18 Works Stolen From Gallery

A collection of 18 Salvador Dali paintings and etchings, valued at more than $600,000, that was stolen last year from a Newport Beach gallery has been recovered by Riverside County sheriff’s investigators, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Sgt. Jan Duke said undercover investigators recovered the paintings at a home in Colton Tuesday and arrested a 33-year-old man in Chino after he led them on a 30-mile chase. Duke said the collection was recovered in good condition.

The paintings and etchings were stolen last June 4 from the Signature Fine Art Gallery, which was displaying them as part of a celebration to honor Dali’s 80th birthday.

One of the paintings stolen was “Adolescence,” considered one of the eccentric surrealist’s most famous works of the 1940s and valued at more than $400,000.

Duke said the investigators had William Kenneth Handrinos’ home under surveillance for the past three months and obtained a search warrant on Tuesday. The officers went to the home at 2:50 p.m. while Handrinos was on an errand and found the paintings in the master bedroom.

When Handrinos returned home, he spotted the unmarked police vehicles and fled, Duke said. The 30-mile chase ended at the home of Handrinos’ mother in Chino, Duke said. The suspect’s two children, ages 2 and 9, were found in the car.

Duke said Handrinos was being held at the Riverside County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail on charges of receiving stolen property and endangering the life of a child.

Duke said the paintings will be retained by the Sheriff’s Department, “because the investigation is still continuing.” She said a tip led to Handrinos’ arrest. Investigators have not determined how or from whom the artworks were obtained, Duke said.

Newport Beach police investigator Bill Barnett said he was aware of the investigation by the Riverside County authorities, but “we didn’t know whether these were the actual paintings stolen here until they were recovered.”

Marilyn Haire, a broker at Signature Fine Art Galley, said the thieves had dug a hole through a wall when the paintings and etchings were stolen. Part of the collection belonged to the gallery while other paintings were borrowed for the special showing, she said.

The works were stolen from the gallery’s former location at 2633 W. Coast Highway. The gallery has since been moved to 1000 W. Coast Highway.

“When we get them back, we’re going to show them and have a big party,” Haire said.