Art thief caught by drone faces trial | City news

The old saying “You can run, but you can’t hide” is even more true in the age of police drones.

Before sunrise on January 7, Scottsdale Police officers responded to a report of a burglary in progress at the American Fine Art Gallery on the corner of Scottsdale Road and Main Street in the heart of Old Town.

“An employee at the gallery reported hearing someone inside,” police spokesman Aaron Bolin said.

The officers marked off the area and launched a drone to get a better overview.

Bolin thanked a high-tech device: “With the help of a patrol drone, the suspect was detained on the roof.”

The man, who initially gave police a false identity but was later identified as Harpreet Singh, was arrested. Picasso and Warhol paintings worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and burglary tools were found near him on the roof.

Singh was released from custody after posting bail, but in March “a warrant was issued for his arrest on charges of removing or tampering with his electronic monitoring device and evading custody.”

On June 20, Singh refused transportation from his jail cell to the courthouse for a bail forfeiture hearing.

But Singh made it to court on July 8 and appeared before Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Barbara Spencer in a “fugitive from justice” trial.

According to court documents, Singh was “notified of an arrest warrant from the State of California.”

According to the trial transcript, California would like to extradite Singh so that he can stand trial there.

Maricopa County District Attorney Rachel Mitchell filed an “aggravated charge” against Singh in March.

Mitchell pointed out that Singh had previously been convicted of a crime, “lied to police to obstruct their investigation” and “has another similar case pending.”

And, Mitchell said, Singh has “poor moral character” – with little prospect of rehabilitation.

The court ordered Singh to be held without bail pending his extradition.

Singh's trial in Maricopa County Superior Court is scheduled for Monday, August 12, but will likely be delayed as a spokeswoman for the Maricopa County Attorney's Office confirmed that Singh has been extradited to California.