On this day, July 17, in 1994, Mafia wannabes pulled off a $1.6 million heist from a Lexington, Ky., museum in the state’s largest ever art theft.
The trio, aided by a getaway driver in his 80s, was trying to work its way into a Pittsburgh mob family.Master thief James P. Quinn was part of an Ohio-based criminal network known as the Waterford Rats, who stole more than $10 million over 10 years.The gang was linked to more than 300 burglaries in Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, the Carolinas and Florida.
But Quinn had more ambitious plans. He believed a heist of the Headley-Whitney Museum could make him a made man in the Mafia. The men disabled the alarm system and made off with 103 pieces of jewelry and artwork.
Quinn was arrested several years later on another theft, and he confessed to the museum heist, believing he had a deal for immunity. He didn’t, prosecutors said. He was sentenced to 10 years.
– Scott McCabe
