Jean Zintz, 31, had a simple plan: force open a door and let his 10-year-old son do the rest.
They entered the Mesa Contemporary Arts building in Mesa, Arizona, which was closed for renovations. While the father broke the lock, the boy took a 2.100-dollar “Trouble” necklace, a 3.000-dollar bolo tie with a self-portrait, and two “Rockstar” bracelets valued at 2.250, according to court documents cited by People. In total, 7.350 dollars’ worth of art pieces. Before leaving, the boy signed the gallery’s guest book and tagged an artwork of his own in an adjoining studio, as if he wanted to leave a record of his visit.
Among the loot, they also took a Bluetooth speaker and a piece of a municipal totem cactus, but forgot a stainless steel mug. They returned the next day to look for it, and the staff recognized them. They fled before the police arrived, although officers tracked them to the grandparents’ house in Mesa. They were arrested at a traffic stop with the stolen cactus inside the car and the jewelry hidden in their luggage, ready to fly to Washington that same day. Zintz faces three charges of robbery, three of theft, property damage, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. His son ended up in a juvenile detention center.