Would-be shoplifter fumbles two attempts at stealing sculpture

Christmas shopping sprees traditionally start after Thanksgiving. But for one Bellevue would-be shoplifter, the best time to try for a five-fingered discount seems to be the weeks just before Thanksgiving.

Bellevue police say that a man has twice tried to steal a Lucite sculpture out of Kenneth Behm Galleries at the Bellevue Square Mall, first in October 2005 and again on Nov. 14. Each time, the suspect knocked over part of the display when he grabbed the statue. He put the statue down and fled after being confronted by store employees.

Both fumbling attempts were caught on several gallery video cameras. The man used the same method, trying to hide the statue behind a black jacket that he kept over his shoulder.

"There's no danger of him becoming a master art thief," said Officer Greg Grannis, a Bellevue police spokesman. "He had 13 months to plan, and he did exactly the same thing, with the same result."

All the same, Grannis and his colleagues would like to have a stern chat with the failed thief and his suspected accomplices — a man in 2005 and a woman this year.

The sculpture is of a semi-nude male, half of a two-part set called "Duet," priced at $12,500.

Nobody has ever successfully stolen from his gallery, said owner Kenneth Behm. Last year, someone grabbed a painting and ran out of the gallery but was caught.

"This is kind of comical because the guy is so bad at it, you know," Behm said.

Anyone with information about the suspect is asked to call Bellevue police at 425-452-4129.

Joe Mullin: 206-464-2761 or jmullin@seattletimes.com