TROY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- The Martinez Gallery in the historical home district of Troy on 5th Avenue fell victim to an art heist. Nearly $6,000 in art was lifted.
“It's having somebody enter a space that you feel is your space. I don't feel vulnerable as such I just feel like somebody stepped on my toes, and you know, they did not say excuse me,” said Laudelina Martinez, the gallery owner.
Martinez says the robber broke in Sunday evening. Surveillance video shows the suspect came in through the basement storm door. “Look now he closes it behind. It's like he expected it to be available.”
NEWS10 walked through the gallery and was shown the empty spots on the wall where the art once hung.
“I feel bad for them. In a sense, they were in a kind of safe environment, and it was not that safe,” said Martinez.
In the video, you can see the man after eight minutes inside, walks out the front door with the paintings in his backpack. He even takes a lamp.
“One cannot guarantee anything, but on the other hand, I do feel for them. I do feel that they gave something and something somebody trampled on,” said Martinez.
Martinez said this heist is particularly heartbreaking because it’s not just about the money, it’s more about the art being stolen from local artists. “Most of the artists spend time thinking about what they're going to do, doing what they're doing, getting colors, buying the frames for what they're doing. I mean, it's not like overnight stuff that they're producing. It's not, it's something in which they put thought and care and creativity and a lot of experience.”
Ronnye Shamam, a Russel Sage alum, who lives across the street from the gallery says this is a desired neighborhood, and she never expected something like this to happen. “I think it's an anomaly. I think things happen. We live in an urban environment, and there are people who come through and go and some people are desperate and angry these days. What can I say?”
Derek Waldron, who lives next door, said, “It's a pretty insane thing to hear that this place got robbed. Because I've walked past here the last 10 years I've lived here, every day. And it's never been a problem or anything.”
Troy’s Assistant Chief of Police Steven Barker says his men took the report Wednesday. “It's unusual for Troy to really deal with art, but it's something that our detectives are going to be involved in, and with the available evidence at the locations probably will be able to facilitate an arrest.”
He says the Troy Police Department needs the public’s help in catching the suspect. “At this point, really it's the see something, say something mentality.” If you know anything about the stolen art, you are asked to call police at 518-270-4421.
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