Warrant Issued for Gallery Head : Art Fraud: He’s charged in a scuffle with two disgruntled art buyers who discovered that their lithograph was a fake.

Beverly Hills police have issued an arrest warrant for Upstairs Gallery President William B. McKelvey Jr. in connection with an alleged assault on two disgruntled art collectors who picketed the gallery’s Rodeo Drive branch after discovering that a $3,200 Joan Miro lithograph they bought was a fake.

The warrant for the arrest of McKelvey on charges of misdemeanor battery and disturbing the peace in the Dec. 8 scuffle with collectors Stuart Herman and Cynthia Berliner was issued last Friday, said Police Lt. Robert Curtis.

Curtis said McKelvey has been contacted and is expected to surrender for booking this week. McKelvey could not be reached for comment Tuesday but earlier had denied any wrongdoing in the incident.

Warrants also have been issued for the arrest of James G. Lykes, a gallery salesman, and Robert Kent, husband of an artist displaying her work at the gallery, Curtis said.

McKelvey’s Upstairs Gallery chain is the subject of a major art fraud investigation by local and federal authorities. In September, authorities seized 1,685 allegedly fraudulent works from various Upstairs Gallery locations. Prosecutors have filed grand theft charges against the former manager of the company’s Beverly Hills branch in the ongoing investigation.

The company has denied any wrongdoing in the fraud case.

McKelvey reportedly told police that a scuffle involving the couple started after they damaged a car parked outside the gallery.

In an earlier interview, Upstairs Gallery attorney Charles Tillinghast said, “I don’t believe any of our people assaulted them.”

But Herman said he and his wife were set upon by McKelvey and the other men as the couple held up a picket sign and passed out flyers criticizing the gallery. Herman said he was bitten on the hand during the fight and his wife was thrown to the ground.

“We were shocked,” said Herman, a 48-year-old clothier from Encino. “We thought they might be upset by the fact we were there, but we did not expect them to come out and engage us in combat.”

The couple’s relationship with the Upstairs Gallery chain dates back to their December, 1987, purchase of a Joan Miro lithograph that was later judged to be phony by their art appraiser.

Gallery executives said they offered to refund the couple’s original payment of $3,200 plus interest if the company’s own Miro specialist supported the finding, but the Hermans chose not to wait.

They took their case to small claims court Dec. 5 where a judge awarded them the maximum $2,000 allowed under law despite Upstairs Gallery’s contention that the work was authentic.

Herman said he and his wife decided to picket the gallery Dec. 8 to let others know of their experience.

Their 7:30 p.m. appearance on the sidewalk outside the gallery coincided with an opening being held for artist Melanie Taylor Kent. Herman said he and his wife had been there about five minutes when the men from the gallery confronted them.

Herman claims that McKelvey broke his wife’s picket sign and cursed at her while another man pushed him. But Herman said the couple held their ground. He said the men then walked back inside the gallery, only to return a few minutes later.

“They walked up to us three abreast and attempted to bowl us over,” Herman said. “There were more vulgarities and they said that we’d better get the hell out of there.”

Two police squad cars arrived at the scene about five minutes after the incident began.