Picasso Thief Caught on Tape

Lefty O'Doul's

Lefty O'Doul's surveillance camera appears to have caught an art thief in the act.

Lefty O'Doul's may hold the key to an art theft that has captured the country's attention.

Someone walked into the  Weinstein Gallery on Geary Street Tuesday and walked away with a Picasso 1965 drawing titled "Tete de Femme" worth a couple hundred thousand dollars.

Police said the thief then jumped into a cab and drove off.  NBC Bay Area has learned SFPD has confiscated the cab they believe drove the man from the gallery.

But before he hailed the cab, it appears he walked in front of Lefty O'Doul's with the painting under his arm. The bar is just a couple doors down from the gallery.  Police could not confirm that the photo was indeed the actual thief, but said they were looking into it.

Witnesses described the thief as a white man about 6 feet tall,  between 32 and 35 years old, wearing a dark jacket, light shirt, dark pants, loafers with no socks, and large sunglasses, according to SF police.

The surveillance stills from the bar show a man fitting that description walking by with a framed painting under his left arm at about the same time the Picasso was taken.

By Lori Preuitt
taken from http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Picasso-Thief-Caught-on-Tape-Leftys-125089934.html?dr