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Snatched statue at junkyard
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More from StateLOS ANGELES (AP) — A $125,000 bronze statue of a gold miner that disappeared from its perch at an intersection was found in a scrap yard cut in two at the knees.
Police arrested Sebastian Espana, 22, and Jessie Hernandez, 23 on Thursday. The pair will likely face grand-theft charges, said Detective Stephanie Lazarus of the police art theft detail.
They were still in custody Friday afternoon, said Officer Jason Lee, a police spokesman. It was not immediately clear whether the men had been assigned defense lawyers.
Both were booked for investigation of grand theft.
Police alleged that the men admitted stealing other sculptures across the city including two bronze giraffes and a sculpture of two children on a swing.
Sculpted in the mid-1920s by Henry Lion, the 7-foot, 512-pound miner statue used to stand atop a boulder.
At a time where prices for metal have soared, residents feared the statue would disappear like so much copper wire around the region.
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