Stolen sculptures sold for scrap

Two Cambrians

arrested, charged in connection with theft

Two Cambria residents have been arrested in connection with nearly $40,000 worth of sculpture thefts that spanned more than a week on two of the town’s oceanfront boulevards and

Main Street, county Sheriff’s officials said Tuesday, March 9.

Deputies arrested Shelly Renee Davis, 38, and Gustavo de Jesus Urbina (called Gustavo Dejesus by a different official), 33, both of Cambria, in Morro Bay on Monday, March 8, took them to County Jail on charges of grand theft and possession of stolen property.

The investigation is continuing, according to Sheriff’s Department Cmdr. Ben Hall, and deputies are seeking any other victims. Hall said at least some of the sculptures were broken apart and sold for scrap-metal value.

Investigators were alerted by an employee of Hileman Salvage in Atascadero, who was suspicious of items brought in by the pair to sell for cash. Bronze is an alloy of copper and other metals such as tin.

Between Feb. 23 and the first week of March, owners reported six separate thefts of bronze statues from garden areas and front yards of Captain’s Cove and the Seago Gallery on Moonstone Beach Drive and from the 4600-4800 block of Windsor Boulevard on Park Hill. A seventh was stolen from the 1000 block of Main Street.

Values were from$250 to $9,000, and some of the sculptures reportedly weighed as much as 500 pounds. The statues were of young and adult humans, deer and dolphins.

Reported thefts include:

• Feb. 23, small statue taken from the front yard, 1000 block Main Street, value approximately $250;

• March 2, two statues taken from front yard, 4600 block Windsor Boulevard, value about $9,000. One statue of a female and another statue of children on a log;

•March 2, 4800 block of Windsor, two statues taken from yard, bronze deer, value about $2,000;

• Between March 4-5, 6400 Moonstone Beach Drive, bronze dolphin statue from Captain’s Cove, value estimated at about $3,000;

• Between March 2-6, 6100 Moonstone Beach Drive, Seago by the Sea, bronze dolphin statue from in front of the art gallery, approximately $3,000 value;

• 4800 Windsor, sculpture of a boy and girl on a seesaw with schoolbooks, which stood 2.5-to-3 feet tall and 3 feet wide and weighed between 300-400 pounds; and

• 4600 block of Windsor, sculpture of three dolphins, estimated value, $5,000.