How a Small N.Y. PD Helped Crack National Burglary Ring
By Fernando Alba
Source syracuse.com
CANASTOTA, NY—Thieves hastily broke into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Madison County in the middle of the night in November 2015.
They smashed windows and used axes to break open display cases that held six championship boxing belts.
Four belts belonged to Canastota native Carmen Basilio, 1957 Fighter of the Year, a hometown hero and an inspiration behind the creation of the hall of fame. The other two were given to Tony Zale, known as the “Man of Steel,” and a 1991 hall of famer.
The thieves got away clean with the belts, but they left something behind. Some blood, possibly from a cut from when they broke in through a window.
Canastota police collected the blood as part of the crime scene investigation. The DNA sat in a national crime database for years.
About a year ago, a match was made.
That match, along with other genetic matches and evidence from other police agencies, helped unravel a nationwide theft ring that stole art and sports memorabilia worth millions over more than 20 years.
Federal authorities announced in June that nine people have been indicted on conspiracy charges for operating the ring that stole Yogi Berra MVP plaques, World Series rings, paintings, antique guns and the boxing championship belts.
The earliest burglary dates back to 1999. Across four states and 21 break-ins, thieves broke into museums celebrating baseball, golf, racing and boxing icons, a college and several jewelry stores, according to the indictments.
The cases remained cold until about three years ago, when a police agency discovered a forensic clue at one of the break-ins that established links to several thefts, U.S. Attorney Gerard Karam said at a news conference announcing the indictments on June 15.
After that one link was made, agencies worked to uncover the full scope of the thefts, Karam said.
The Pennsylvania State Police contacted Canastota police saying the DNA they had collected was a match for a person of interest, Canastota Police Chief Sean Barton told syracuse.com | The Post-Standard. About seven agencies also had DNA that helped put together pieces of the break-ins, he said.
The person who was matched was Thomas Trotta Jr., 48, of Moscow, Pennsylvania, Barton said.
He along with Damien Boland, 47, of Moscow, Pennsylvania, are accused of being the men who broke into the hall of fame in Canastota, according to the indictments.
In November 2015, the men staked out the security and items on display at the hall of fame on North Peterboro Street just off the state Thruway.
Early in the morning of Nov. 5, they returned and tried to smash a window to break in. But they might have struggled with how high up it was and broke in through another window, said Barton, who was one of the police officers who responded.
Canastota police investigated. They said sought the public’s help.
The thefts of the famous boxers’ belts made headlines locally and nationally. The break-in got the attention of Mike Tyson, who offered a reward for anyone who could help investigators recover the belts.
Within days the FBI joined the investigation.
But for eight years no one knew what happened.
An indictment unsealed this month in federal court showed the men in 2015 drove back to Pennsylvania after stealing the belts. They pried gemstones from the belts and melted them down, prosecutors said.
The raw metals were sold for about $400 in the New York City area, prosecutors said.
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