Life-size bronze bust was being held in police property room

Tuesday, August 5, 2003

Dave Rettell was surprised to see a story in Monday's Ann Arbor News about a reward the University of Michigan was offering for the return of a stolen bronze bust of Nobel Prize winner and former U-M physics professor Martinus Veltman.

After all, hadn't he turned that very bust over to the Ann Arbor Police several weeks ago?

"It has to be the same one," said Rettell Monday evening, after contacting U-M's Department of Public Safety. "How many big brass heads are there out there?"

For weeks, the life-size bust of Veltman, stolen from its pedestal in the courtyard outside Randall Hall, has been safely stored in a property room at the Ann Arbor Police Department even as U-M staff worried they'd never see it again.

The bust apparently was used to vandalize Rettell's truck on July 12 and then was dropped in the street by a man who got away shortly after midnight, just hours after it was reported stolen by the physics department to U-M's Department of Public Safety.

Rettell called Ann Arbor Police, who stored it with about 9,000 other stolen, found or recovered objects.

That's standard procedure, said Ann Arbor Police Lt. Mike Logghe.

"The officer went out there, obviously couldn't identify where the statue came from because it wasn't in our system because it was reported to U-M and not us," said Logghe. "It was held as evidence because it was used in a crime. Anytime we have evidence, we have to hold it for any kind of court proceedings."

Logghe said once the case was closed out, the property clerk would have called around to try to find the owner of the bust.

Meanwhile, U-M offered a $500 reward for the return of the bust, valued at more than $15,000. Physics professor Jens Zorn called The News, hoping some publicity might lead to the bust's return.

"We are very pleased with the recovery of this piece of valued art and we will have several departments across campus working together to investigate the reinstallation in a secure manner," said Diane Brown, spokeswoman for the U-M Public Safety Department.

Logghe said it's surprising how many pieces of artwork are out there. When a valuable statue was found a few months ago, the property clerk called a number of area institutions, but it turned out that it belonged to an individual, he said.

Rettell, who is happy the bust will soon be back where it belongs, recalled how he heard a crash outside his house near Veterans Memorial Park, ran outside and saw someone he thinks was a teenager standing near his truck. A view mirror on the truck had been broken. As Rettell pursued him, wondering exactly what he'd do if he caught him, the vandal dropped an oval-shaped object. Rettell eventually gave up the chase and returned to inspect his truck and the object.

The bust was in good shape despite a few scrapes, and he immediately called city police, who picked it up the next morning. Rettell moved the next week and pretty much forgot about the bust until the other day when he learned about the story in The News. He then called U-M police, who called city police.

Zorn, who couldn't be reached for comment this morning, had said that if the bust was returned, it would most certainly be more securely fastened next time.

Logghe suggested that people with any type of valuable property should engrave their driver's license number or other identification on an inconspicuous area.

"That way, we can make sure their property is returned to them in a timely fashion," he said.

As for that $500 reward, Brown said it's not certain, but it "sure seems likely" it will go to Rettell.

Jo Collins Mathis can be reached at jmathis@annarbornews.com or (734) 994-6849.