'Patriot' shark art stolen

Reward of $500 and Sharks hockey tickets offered for its return

By Moryt Milo

After being displayed for only one day in front of Aqui Cal-Mex Grill & Bar, 1145 Lincoln Ave., the red, white and blue fiberglass shark called "The Patriot--Made in America" vanished.

Restaurant manager Robert Willis said the shark was stolen sometime between midnight Oct. 25 and 8 a.m. Oct. 26, when he arrived for work. Before Willis could find out what happened, the San Jose Downtown Association called to ask how it looked, and Willis told them it was missing.

The association immediately filed a police report and posted a $500 reward for the shark's return. The San Jose Sharks hockey team has also donated four club seats to any Sharks game to sweeten the offer.

"The shark was sitting on four concrete columns," Willis said. "Whoever took it had to be pretty strong. They lifted the shark right off its base."

Elrond Lawrence, communications director for the downtown association, said the exhibit had about nine sharks displayed in the outlying areas of downtown San Jose. Two sharks had been painted with a patriotic theme. The shark exhibited on Lincoln Avenue was one of the last to be displayed.

"It was completely inspired by the United States flag," Lawrence said. "We were going to photograph it, but it wasn't even up long enough to get a picture."

Artists Kelly Detweiler and Sean Boyles painted the shark. Detweiler, an art instructor at Santa Clara University, didn't know it was missing until a Santa Clara University student who had driven by the previous morning noticed it gone the next day and told Detweiler at school.

The downtown association, Willis and Detweiler think the culprit was someone who left either the Aqui restaurant or Sharky's of Willow Glen, 1151 Lincoln Ave., after having too many drinks and decided to steal the shark as a prank.

"I think someone came out of the bar a little tanked, their judgment impaired, and thought it was funny," Detweiler said.

He said the shark could be cut off its base with a hacksaw, but "they are not that easy to get off the base unless you really break the shark up. I suspect someone had tools right there."

The exhibit, San Jose's SharkByte public arts program, was planned to display 100 decorated fiberglass sharks and then auction them off Nov.14. The proceeds from the stolen shark were to go to the San Jose Children's Musical Theater.

Lawrence said the association still had the fiberglass mold for the 100th shark. It had not been painted and was "freed up" to replace the stolen Patriot. Detweiler and Boyles will paint another shark, staying within the patriotic theme, but looking slightly different, Detweiler said.

But the association is still hoping the stolen shark will be returned. Lawrence said, "If the person who took the shark wants to drop it off anonymously, they can call Crime Stoppers at 408.947.STOP."

He also said the association would take the shark back if the offender bought five auction tickets, at $100 a ticket, which equals the cost of the reward.

Whether the shark is returned or not, Detweiler said the action "was pretty selfish."

Although, he said, "It's a form of flattery that someone would steal your work, I don't condone stealing artwork, and it's not very respectful of the situation."

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