Federal detectives are busy this Christmas season looking for a ‘grinch’ who stole a white Tesla with an antique 18th-century violin reportedly worth a whopping $ 900,000 in the vehicle left unlocked by the owner.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is asking the public for help locating the vehicle and a 1710 Amati violin taken by a thief in the Los Feliz section of Los Angeles on Dec. 8.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the instrument, which is made of curly maple and alpine spruce, was said to be in excellent condition when stolen.
Auction records show that the violin sold for just over half a million dollars in 2013. If it were put up for auction today, it would likely fetch anywhere from $ 700,000 to $ 900,000.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is asking the public for help locating the vehicle and a 1710 Amati violin taken by a thief in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles on Dec. 8.
The instrument, which is made of curly maple and alpine spruce, was said to be in excellent condition at the time it was stolen
The violin was made by Girolamo (Hieronymus) Amati II, the great-grandson of Andrea Amati, who is considered the inventor of the modern violin
The violin was created by Girolamo (Hieronymus) Amati II, the great-grandson of Andrea Amati, who is considered the inventor of the modern violin.
It belongs to Rowland Weinstein, an art dealer and gallery owner who divides his time between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Weinstein allowed his musician friends and professional violinists to play the instrument.
On December 8, he left the violin in his white Tesla sedan parked outside his house and on his property in Los Feliz.
Then someone opened the door, picked up the violin and fled.
The violin’s owner, art dealer Rowland Weinstein, said he left it in his parked Tesla just outside his home in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles. Weinstein can be seen above in September 2014 in New York City
Weinstein told the LA Times that his car key accidentally slipped out of his pocket and ended up behind the driver’s seat.
The automatic locking mechanism only works when the driver takes the key and leaves the car.
Since the key fell, the Tesla’s doors had been unlocked.
According to the Times, Weinstein transported the violin because he thought the previous location where it was stored was not safe enough.
He only planned to leave the violin in the car temporarily. When he got back, he found the car gone and called the police.
FBI spokesman Laura Eimiller said authorities have so far been unable to locate either the vehicle or the violin.
Eimiller said it is possible that a car thief was nearby and the instrument was not the intended target.
“According to the LAPD, there would have been a car thief in the area,” Eimiller said.
It is possible that the person who stole it did not know the value and discovered it [later] and may try to pawn it or sell it overseas.
“So it’s critical to get the information out to the public so that hopefully someone who has received or is offered the information can identify it and return it to its rightful owner.”
Weinstein offers a $ 25,000 reward to anyone with information that leads to the safe return of the violin.
He told the Times he was “heartbroken” about the theft.
“I am responsible for a piece of history and that piece of history has escaped me,” said Weinstein.
This is the second time that Weinstein has been targeted by thieves. In 2011, Mark Lugo of Hoboken, New Jersey left Weinstein’s gallery in San Francisco after taking a 1965 Pablo Picasso pencil drawing, ‘Tete de Femme’.
‘It’s so fragile. My biggest fear is that someone who doesn’t know what he has will put it in the wrong environment and it will be damaged or destroyed. ‘
In October 2013, Weinstein paid $ 507,436 for the violin after it went up for sale at Tarisio, an online auction house.
Tarisio’s director, Jason Price, told the Times that rare instruments are valued annually.
If the 1710 Amati went up for auction today, it could fetch up to $ 900,000, according to Price.
Two years ago, another Amati violin made sometime around the year 1700 was sold at the Ingles & Hayday auction house in London for $ 917,453.
The Amati family from Cremona, Italy, are known as the inventors of the modern violin.
This particular violin was made during the ‘golden age’ in violin making.
Although Weinstein is not a musician, he feels a sense of historical responsibility for the artifact, given the family’s role in its creation.
“I’m its caretaker,” Weinstein said.
Lugo, pictured above, was in prison for 16 months for the theft
‘I feel very close because it is a part of history that has touched so many lives.
“Not just the lives of people who have been lucky enough to play it, but those who have heard it for 300 years.”
This is the second time that Weinstein has been targeted by thieves.
In 2011, Mark Lugo of Hoboken, New Jersey, known as the ‘Thomas Crown of Art Thieves’, left Weinstein’s gallery after taking a 1965 Pablo Picasso pencil drawing, ‘Tete de Femme’.
The artwork was recovered by the authorities a short time later and Lugo was arrested. He was sentenced to 16 months in prison.
Weinstein said he is stunned to be the target of thieves twice.
“It’s going to be everything I ever expected,” he said.
“I just hope the violin has the same happy ending as the Picasso.”
The FBI continues to investigate the matter, Eimiller said, asking anyone with information to (310) 477-6565.