Eve Weisager

Nine works by masters of modern art--including Picasso, Modigliani, Degas and Chagall--valued at up to $9 million were stolen from a Northridge warehouse where their 84-year-old owner left them because of lack of space in her apartment, Los Angeles police said Thursday.

Investigators on Tuesday recovered nine works of modern art--including paintings by Picasso, Degas and Chagall--valued at $9 million and arrested two San Fernando Valley men a year after the uninsured masterpieces were stolen from a Northridge storage warehouse. In 2 a.m. raids, squads of FBI agents and police arrested Peter MacKenzie, 43, a carpenter, at his Chatsworth home on suspicion of burglary, and Alan R. McArthur, 37, an electrician, at his Granada Hills home on suspicion of receiving stolen property.

Investigators on Tuesday recovered nine works of modern art--including paintings by Picasso, Degas and Chagall--valued at $9 million and arrested two San Fernando Valley men a year after the uninsured masterpieces were stolen from a Northridge storage warehouse. In 2 a.m. raids, squads of FBI agents and police arrested Peter MacKenzie, 43, a carpenter, at his Chatsworth home on suspicion of burglary, and Alan R. McArthur, 37, an electrician, at his Granada Hills home on suspicion of receiving stolen property.

Nine works by masters of modern art--including Picasso, Modigliani, Degas and Chagall--valued at up to $9 million were stolen from a Northridge warehouse where their 84-year-old owner left them because of lack of space in her apartment, Los Angeles police said Thursday.

A Sylmar auto mechanic has become the fourth suspect arrested in the theft of $9 million in paintings from a storage locker in Northridge, police said Wednesday. According to Detective Barbara Bella, 37-year-old Matthew Gibbs was arrested about 8 a.m. Tuesday at his Hubbard Street home by Los Angeles police detectives. "It took us a little while to get him so maybe he thought we had forgotten about him," Bella said.

Peter MacKenzie could do wonders with a hammer and Alan R. McArthur could make sense of fuse box circuitry, but it seems that neither knew the difference between a Baldini and a Modigliani--much less how to fence them. It was this naivete, authorities said, that more than anything else landed them in jail this week as suspects in the theft of $9 million in master artworks from a Northridge storage facility.

Nine works by masters of modern art--including Picasso, Modigliani, Degas and Chagall--valued at up to $9 million were stolen from a Northridge warehouse where their 84-year-old owner left them for lack of space in her apartment, Los Angeles police said Thursday. The missing paintings and drawings, which were not insured, were stored in a nondescript 10-by-12-foot room in a Public Storage warehouse in the 9300 block of Shirley Avenue, across from the Northridge Fashion Center, police said.

Peter MacKenzie could do wonders with a hammer and Alan R. McArthur could make sense of the circuitry in a fuse box, but when it came to art, it seems that neither could bring the same expertise to determining a Baldini from a Modigliani. It was that naivete that, more than anything else, landed them in jail this week as suspects in a $9-million art theft from a Northridge storage locker, authorities said.

Nine works by masters of modern art--including Picasso, Degas and Chagall--valued at $9 million were seized by police and FBI agents Tuesday and two San Fernando Valley men were arrested, a year after the uninsured masterpieces were stolen from a Northridge storage warehouse. In 2 a.m. raids, squads of agents and police arrested Peter MacKenzie, a 43-year-old carpenter, at his Chatsworth home on suspicion of burglary, and Alan R.

The good news is, you have just inherited some fabulously valuable artwork. You will be the envy of all your friends. You will be courted by the great museums, which would like to exhibit the work. You will receive visits from interesting scholars who will give your lowly abode the ambience of a salon. Culture will come into your life. The bad news is, you have just inherited some fabulously valuable artwork.

It was the year the San Fernando Valley lost whatever remained of its innocence and flexed its political muscles. The muscle ensured the election of a Republican mayor to succeed a liberal Democrat who many Valley dwellers felt had ignored them during his 20-year rule downtown. The tatters of its sleepy past as a suburban retreat were buried by the lurid trial in Van Nuys of two wealthy young men who admit to shredding their parents with shotguns.