SCOTTSDALE, AZ — Trial for a man accused of trying to steal a quarter-million dollars in paintings from a Scottsdale art gallery has been pushed back again until November.
Police say 33-year-old Harpreet Singh tried to take three Picassos and two Andy Warhols from the American Fine Art Gallery. They found him on the roof of the gallery before opening hours on January 7 after an alarm went off.
Singh is in a Maricopa County jail after prosecutors say that while out on bail earlier this year, he removed his electronic ankle monitor, threw it in a trash bin and fled to Las Vegas.
“He was found in a luxury hotel by U.S. Marshals,” said Richelle Burch, a prosecutor with Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, during a pre-trial court hearing on Monday.
Burch asked the judge for a continuance in the criminal trial, which was scheduled to begin as early as next week. She indicated she is having difficulty getting information on a prior criminal offense Singh has in California, which is needed to determine what sort of plea agreement to offer. She also cited the high-profile nature of the case.
“The county attorney herself is interested in the resolution of this case,” she said. “And I just want to make sure that I’m making an appropriate plea and that we get a fair resolution in this offer.”
But Singh’s attorney, Julio Laboy, told the judge he opposed delaying criminal proceedings. He maintained that the high-profile nature of the case should have nothing to do with pushing back the trial date.
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“That doesn’t mean he sits there indefinitely (in jail),” Laboy said.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Max-Henri Covil agreed on Monday to push back trial until November 4. The next pre-trial hearing is set for October 28.
“I’m giving you a little extra time to figure it out,” he told the prosecution. “He’s entitled to go to trial if he wants to.”
Singh is also facing criminal charges in California. Police there say just days before the Scottsdale theft, he allegedly broke into the Hamilton-Selway Fine Art gallery in West Hollywood on December 22 and stole two Andy Warhol edition prints valued at nearly $100,000.
Days later, detectives arrested Singh outside another art gallery in West Hollywood only about a mile from where the art had been stolen. He was allegedly carrying one of the stolen Warhol prints; the other was found in his car.
He has pleaded not guilty to both the West Hollywood and Scottsdale thefts.
Email ABC15 Investigator Anne Ryman at anne.ryman@abc15.com, call her at 602-685-6345, or connect on X, formerly known as Twitter, and Facebook.
