A man broke into the Dallas Museum of Art on Wednesday and caused damages to artifacts worth more than $5 million, according to a police document.
The accused has been identified by police as Brian Hernandez, 21. He was arrested Wednesday night.
Security video showed Hernandez outside the museum’s front entrance with a metal chair in hand. He went into each room and smashed display cases and the items inside, according to a Dallas police arrest sheet.
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Among the items that he damaged were a sixth-century Greek amphora and a pot dating to 450 B.C., according to the police document. The two items combined were valued at about $5 million. He also smashed a case and destroyed a “Kylix Herakles and Nemeon Lion” statue, valued at about $100,000, according to police.
“The items inside of the display cases that were destroyed are rare ancient artifacts that are extremely precious and one of a kind,” the arrest sheet states.
Hernandez then used a hand sanitizer stand to shatter the case containing a statue of the “Batah Kuhuh Alligator Gar Fish” valued at $10,000.
He was also caught on camera destroying other property, including a laptop, a phone, a monitor, two wooden display signs and four plexiglass display cases, police said.
According to the police, the reason behind his action was his anger. The museum guard told police that Hernandez said “he got mad at his girl so he broke in and started destroying property.”
Security soon found Hernandez and he was taken into custody when police arrived.
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Kenneth Bennett, the museum’s director of security and operations, said the total damage was estimated at $5.2 million. However, the amount could change after a final assessment by the museum’s curator and insurance, according to the police document.
“This was an isolated incident perpetrated by one individual acting alone, whose intent was not theft of art or any objects on view at the Museum,” the museum said in a written statement. “However, some works of art were damaged, and we are still in the process of assessing the extent of the damages.”
Hernandez was not armed, the museum said.
“While we are devastated by this incident, we are grateful that no one was harmed,” the museum said.
Hernandez has been charged with criminal mischief of greater than or equal to $300,000. His bail has been set at $100,000, according to jail records. He is currently booked into the Dallas County Jail.