By Dan Murphy
Last December, we reported about a mystery man sneaking onto the campus of SUNY Purchase and stealing works of student art. Almost all of the art stolen were nude paintings and drawings.”
The thefts went on for more than two semesters, with students complaining about their final art projects stolen. We contacted the State Police and the SUNY Purchase Campus safety, and put this man on the front page of our papers and online. Purchase students were also posting photos of this man on Reddit.com
Now we are happy to report that an arrest has been made in this case. This statement from Dayton Tucker, Chief, State University Police Purchase College. “Frank Filippone of Fairfield, Connecticut was arrested by the State University Police as a result of a burglary investigation into several thefts of student artworks and equipment. The thefts began in April of 2022. Filippone was arraigned at Harrison Town Court Yesterday.
“I commend the efforts of our Criminal Investigator, Police Officers, and Communications Officers for bringing this case to resolution. The team spent hours scoring through on and off-campus video and working with surrounding law enforcement agencies to identify the suspect’s vehicle in connection with the crimes. Special thanks to the students and staff that cooperated and assisted with the investigation.
“Additionally, I am proud that we will soon be able to reunite students with artworks that have been recovered as a result of this arrest. We felt the pain of the Visual Arts community, and we are happy to bring this closure,” said Chief Tucker.
We were able to obtain copies of the legal documents and charges in the matter of People v. Frank Filippone. There are a total of six charges filed against him. Filippone was arraigned on Thursday, 2/2/2023 after business hours by the Honorable Daniel D. Angiolillo, a Justice of the Harrison Town Court. Defense Counsel from the Legal Aid Society of Westchester was present at the arraignment and the Legal Aid Society was assigned to represent the Defendant in the instant matters. Defendant was released on his own recognizance [pursuant to “bail reform,” none of the charges pending before this Court are “qualifying offenses” for monetary bail to be set. He was ordered to appear back before Judge Angiolillo in the Harrison Town Court on 2/14/2023.
Filippone,72, is charged with three felonies and three misdemeanors from incidents that occurred on April 30, 2022, May 9, 2022, and December 3, 2022. On 4/9,22, at 818AM, Filippone entered the Visual Arts Academy building and stole two art palette knives.
On 5/9/22, he is charged with stealing a portait of a male student’s upper body which was displayed on the wall. And on 12/3/22, he is charged with stealing a painting of a female’s vagina and a painting of a female bending over exposing her genitals, as well as a student painting on a cardboard box of a male bending over and exposing his genitals.
In each of the three instances, Filippone is charged with three counts of Burglary in the 3rd degree, a felony, and three countys of misdemeanor petty larceny.
