The Oakland Police Department and the FBI are seeking the public’s help in identifying two people suspected of carrying out an early-morning heist at the Oakland Museum of California’s storage facility.

On Oct. 15, just before 3:30 a.m., police say the suspects broke into the museum’s off-site storage building and stole more than 1,000 artifacts. Most of the items were “historic memorabilia,” including six Native American baskets, 19th-century scrimshawed objects, daguerreotypes, modernist metalwork jewelry, souvenir tokens, and political pins, according to a statement from OMCA.

Oakland police and the FBI released surveillance footage and photos of the suspects in a press release Monday. One of the suspects is described as a man of thin build wearing a black beanie, a white face mask, a plaid long-sleeve shirt, blue jeans, and black shoes. The other is described as being of heavy build and wearing a blue hoodie with white text on the front, blue pants, white shoes with black detailing, and black gloves.

OPD is working with the FBI’s Art Crime Team to investigate the burglary.

Credit: Courtesy of the Oakland Police Department

At a press conference at the museum last Wednesday, Lori Fogarty, executive director and CEO of OMCA, said the heist appeared to be a “crime of opportunity” rather than a strategic targeting of the storage facility. The museum’s collection staff are working with insurance to determine the value of all the items stolen, according to Fogarty.

According to the statement from OMCA, the museum has been in contact with the Indigenous tribe whose baskets were stolen in the heist. The tribe has requested that it not be named publicly and that OMCA not release additional information about the baskets.

“This is a loss to the community, not just to the museum,” Fogarty said. “It’s heartbreaking for people who dedicate their careers to preserving, stewarding, and presenting objects of cultural and artistic importance.”

The Oakland museum heist happened four days before a burglary at the Louvre Museum in Paris, where four suspects stole more than $100 million in jewels that belonged to Empress Eugénie, the wife of Napoleon III.

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