Milwaukee Police Reportedly Recover Stolen Violin, Arrest 3 Suspects

Updated: Police have confirmed the recovery of the violin. Read more about it here.

Updated: WTMJ (TMJ4) in Milwaukee is reporting that police have recovered the stolen violin, saying that it is in “good condition.” The MPD will hold a press conference at noon.

Law enforcement officials have arrested three Milwaukee residents in connection with the armed robbery of a rare, multi-million dollar violin taken from the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra concert master last week.

Police say two men, ages 41 and 36, and one woman, age 32, were arrested Monday, and are expected to be charged with last week’s robbery of a nearly 300-year-old Stradivarius violin known as “the ex-Lipinski.” The FBI acting special agent in charge G.B. Jones said his agency thinks the right people are behind bars. “At this point, we’re confident the subjects in custody are the subjects responsible for this.”

Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn said the violin case was removed after the robbery, and was later found. He also said there are no indications the three alleged robbers were working with, or for anyone else. Flynn argued the market for the Stradivarius is very limited: “This is not something that easily be disposed of at some future date. It’ll never be valuable for a thief: it’s only valuable for a collector. And it’s only valuable to a collector if it can be played, and it can’t be played if it’s known to be stolen.”

Flynn said police have had previous interaction with one of those arrested. News reports indicate one of the suspects was convicted in an art theft in 1995.