DENVER (AP) – Four people have been charged with stealing blown-glass pieces by world-famous artist Dale Chihuly (Cha-HOOL’-ee) that were on display at the Denver Botanic Gardens.
One of the suspects charged Thursday told police they broke in on a whim in August because they were bored.
Alex Brook, Joseph Parnell, Sean Sorensen and Auvia Bellamy are accused of taking a glass orb and three glass cattails – tall plants that grow near water – worth about $100,000.
Court documents say they didn’t realize the value of the items until seeing news reports about the theft. Police say the cattails were abandoned in a cornfield where they were eventually destroyed, likely by a crop-cutting machine. Authorities say Sorenson kept the orb.
Brook posted a Facebook message calling the theft a “bad drunk mistake.”