Photo taken by the Federal Bureau of Investigationįive works were stolen from the Dutch Room, six from the Short Gallery, and two from the Blue Room, totaling to 13.
Photo of a frame left after the thieves stole the art. While the alarm was only to alert the night guards, one of the robbers smashed the alarm to avoid further disruptions. They went their separate ways, collecting valuable pieces of art until an alarm went off. The thieves left the guards in the basement and ventured to the second floor. The second security guard for the night eventually found himself in the same predicament. He was then lead into the basement where he was left handcuffed and tied with duck tape. He soon realized he wasn’t searched for weapons and that he let two art thieves into the museum. Come out here and show us some identification.”Ībath complied, left the watch desk, and followed orders to face the wall with legs apart. “You look familiar,” said one of the officers when he saw Abath, who’s had some trouble with the law in the past. Patrick’s Day parades and the false fire alarm that went off a half hour ago, Abath broke the rules and permitted the officers into the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, which hosts more that 15,000 pieces of art that are all of great value. They explained there was a disturbance call and that they needed to check it out.
On one screen, a red hatchback pulled beside the museum’s side entrance, and two police officers got out and rang the buzzer.
Richard Abath leaned back in his chair as his eyes scanned the cameras early in the morning on March 18, 1990.