Locker Full of Sammy Davis Items Discovered : Investigation: IRS seizes memorabilia found in Burbank. Probe begun to find if property was hidden from tax collectors.

A cache of show business memorabilia of Sammy Davis Jr. has been discovered in a Burbank storage locker--rented in the name of an unsuspecting Hollywood man--and authorities are investigating whether it was being hidden from tax collectors.

Burbank police said Tuesday that the locker rental was arranged by an employee of Altovise Davis, the singer’s widow, who has denied any involvement.

The Internal Revenue Service said that it has seized the material--including a trumpet, antique record player and jukebox with records that include Davis’ hit “The Candy Man”--to see whether the goods can be used to satisfy some of the $5 million in tax liens against the singer’s estate.

The property was discovered after 28-year-old Matias Horenczyk, whose driver’s license had been recently stolen, learned that the 18-by-22 foot storage area had been rented in his name, Sgt. Don Goldberg said.

When Horenczyk received a $365 bill for the space, he complained to the manager of the business that “he had never rented a storage unit from him,” Goldberg said.

After his records showed the renter had used Horenczyk’s stolen identification, the manager alerted police, fearing the locker contained illegal drugs or chemicals.

The search Monday instead uncovered Davis’ possessions, including clothing, documents and pictures of the singer and his widow, Goldberg said. He did not know the value of the items.

Police said the locker was rented Oct. 8, two weeks after a court-ordered auction of Davis’ memorabilia and other possessions in Los Angeles. The man renting the locker made the initial payment in cash and “if they had continued making payments, conceivably (the discovery) never would have happened,” Goldberg said.

Davis died of throat cancer in May, 1990, leaving millions of dollars in debts to the IRS. With interest and penalties, “the lien is somewhere in the neighborhood of $5.7 million,” IRS spokesman Robert Giannangeli said.

Davis’ 11,000-square-foot Beverly Hills mansion is being sold for just over $2.7 million, with escrow scheduled to close in two weeks. But there will be little money left over to reduce the IRS debt because mortgages on the property total nearly $2.2 million, according to the agent handling the sale.

“I don’t know if the IRS is going to get much of anything,” said Elaine Hunt of Malibu-based Spinello Realty.

Burbank police said the employee of Altovise Davis told officers that he assisted “in hiding the remaining property” because “the IRS was attempting to seize” all of Davis’ possessions.

The employee said he asked a friend, whom he refused to name, to rent the storage area, according to Goldberg.

James Key, the manager of A-1 Self Storage Inc., said the man used Horenczyk’s driver’s license as identification and apparently gave him fake social security and telephone numbers.

Key said he was not surprised by Monday’s find.

“You never can tell what someone is going to put in storage facilities,” he said.

Burbank police quickly turned the case over to the IRS, Goldberg said, adding that “at this point we are not going to pursue any criminal investigation. . . . We don’t anticipate any arrests.”

Altovise Davis could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

About 800 people attended the Sept. 22 sale at the Butterfield & Butterfield auction house of more than 500 items that belonged to Davis. The auction brought in $439,000 for back taxes and other debts. A pair of Davis’ tap shoes sold for $11,000, and a collection of 10 canes brought $7,150.

IRS spokesman Giannangeli said seizure of possessions is “the last resort” but that “if there’s an outstanding liability, we will take whatever action we have to to satisfy that.”