Dozen Years After National Museum Of Racing Trophy Thefts, Convictions Bring Sense Of Closure

[Wandering Eyes]

Three thieves who targeted sporting museums in a two-decade long crime spree were convicted by a Pennsylvania jury Feb. 7 and are now facing federal prison sentences after a fourth, the ringleader of the group, pleaded guilty and testified against them. Included in the 1999-2019 crime spree was the 2013 smash-and-grab, nighttime heist of five trophies worth an estimated $400,000 from the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, New York.

The looted trophies, three of which were solid gold and one of which was the 1903 Belmont Stakes trophy valued at $150,000, will never be recovered.

That's because in the hours following the theft, the thieves drove 215 miles south to a bar that one of them owned in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and “melted the trophies down into easily transportable metal pieces,” according to the criminal indictment.

The very next day, the thieves drove to New York City, where they sold the raw materials “for approximately $150,000 to $160,000,” the indictment stated.

Brien Bouyea, the communications director for the museum, told TDN in a Feb. 11 email that his organization was grateful that police and prosecutors had pursued the criminal convictions and guilty pleas.

“The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame is pleased to learn of these convictions,” Bouyea wrote. “While the irreplaceable items that were stolen were not recovered, these convictions offer a sense of closure. We thank the prosecutors and law enforcement for their efforts in bringing these criminals to justice.”

A methodology of “target-steal-melt-sell” was the blueprint for how at least nine known individuals broke into 14 museums in the Eastern United States over a 20-year span, ripping off artwork, sporting hardware, and high-value, antique memorabilia.

According to the June 6, 2023, indictment filed by prosecutors in U.S. District Court (Middle District of Pennsylvania), 20 of the stolen pieces were considered “objects of cultural heritage” as defined by the federal criminal code because they are “either over 100 years old and worth in excess of $5,000 [or] less than 100 years old and worth at least $100,000.”

The thieves also orchestrated a 2012 robbery at the Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame in Goshen, New York, where they made off with 14 trophies and other awards worth over $300,000.

They also hit museums related to baseball, boxing and golf, looting nine World Series rings and other items once belonging to New York Yankees greats Yogi Berra and Roger Maris; six championship title-fight belts, and the U.S. amateur golf trophy once awarded to Ben Hogan.

The thieves also dabbled in popular art and antique firearms, hauling off paintings by Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock, plus three guns worth a combined $1 million.

The trophies and awards would be stripped “of the gemstones and other valuable attachments prior to melting the objects clown into easily transportable bars, disks, pucks, and other small pieces of the valuable metals,” the indictment stated.

The sales of the metals generally returned only a fraction of what the intact valuables were worth.

The “objects of cultural heritage which could not be broken down, such as antique firearms and paintings,” were then sold on the black market, the indictment stated.

The New York Times reported that Nicholas Dombek, 54, Joseph Atsus, 50, and Damien Boland, 48, were convicted of concealment and disposal of major artwork and interstate transportation of stolen property. Atsus and Dombek were acquitted on several lesser counts alleged by the prosecution. A fourth defendant, Alfred Atsus, 48, the brother of Joseph, was acquitted on all charges.

The convictions were made possible after the leader of the group, Thomas Trotta, 49, was pulled over by state police in Pennsylvania in 2019 for swerving his vehicle. Trotta was arrested and charged with driving under the influence, and in the car, the police found bolt cutters, a sledgehammer, headlamps, ski masks, gloves and several phones.

The New York Times reported that investigators “then traced DNA from a cup of water Mr. Trotta drank from while in custody and matched it to DNA found at several burglaries.”

Trotta cooperated with law enforcement and eventually pleaded guilty. He wore a wire to record conversations with others in the ring, most of whom were his friends since middle school. Several of the thieves were the godfathers of Trotta's children, the admitted ringleader testified from the stand.

“I'm sure they don't like me now,” Trotta said as part of his testimony, the New York Times reported.

Three other thieves involved in the organized ring had already pleaded guilty. They are Ralph Parry, 46, Frank Tassiello, 52, and Dawn Trotta, 53, the sister of the ringleader.

Another defendant, Daryl Rinker, 51, died in April 2024 of natural causes.

All of the thieves who pleaded guilty or were convicted are awaiting sentencing.

The 2023 indictment gave a glimpse of how the National Racing Museum heist was planned and executed on Sept. 13, 2013, just 10 days after the racing season had concluded at the historic track right across the street.

Per usual, the planning, getaway and meltdown operations were a group effort. Except for one time in that 20-year span, Trotta testified that he always carried out the actual thefts alone.

“Prior to Sept. 13, 2013, Nicholas Dombek, Damien Boland and Conspirator No. 1 [later revealed to be Trotta] made multiple visits to the National Racing Museum and Hall of Fame [to] view objects of cultural heritage displayed therein and to observe the security measures protecting said objects,” the indictment stated.

Then, in the overnight hours of Sept. 13, Boland drove Trotta to Saratoga, where he “entered the National Racing Museum and Hall of Fame without authorization, smashed multiple glass display cases with a center-punch tool and grinder, and stole and removed five trophies displayed therein.”

Published news accounts at the time described how the thief was able to navigate the unlit corridors of the landmark Union Avenue building without triggering perimeter alarms.

In the museum's steeplechase gallery, Trotta took trophies from the 1914 Brook Cup Handicap Steeplechase (won by Compliment) and the 1923 Grand National Steeplechase (won by Sergeant Murphy).

He then moved to the post-Civil War gallery, and from a single case pilfered trophies from the 1903 Belmont Stakes (won by Africander), the 1903 Brighton Cup (won by Hermis), and the 1905 Saratoga Special (won by Mohawk II).

Upon exiting the museum, Boland drove Trotta and the looted objects 1.7 miles to the parking lot of the Saratoga Casino Hotel, where Trotta transferred the trophies to his own car.

The two then drove their separate vehicles 190 miles south to the parking lot of a Denny's restaurant in Dickson City, Pennsylvania, “to inventory the trophies stolen,” the indictment stated.

They then proceeded another seven miles to Scranton, where they met up at a bar called Collier's, owned by Boland, to melt down the trophies, the indictment stated.

The next day they drove together to New York City “and sold the pieces to an individual known to the Grand Jury,” the indictment stated.

After Sept. 14, “[Trotta] paid Nicholas Dombek $30,000 from the proceeds…in exchange for Dombek's help in planning the theft,” the indictment stated.

In 2024, Trotta told the CBS-TV news magazine “60 Minutes” that he was able to successfully case museums without drawing attention to himself, even while video recording the very items he planned to steal.

“I have a dorky look to me,” Trotta told “60 Minutes” reporter Jon Wertheim. “I notice I don't look like a criminal at all.”

Trotta told “60 Minutes” that the gang had justified the thefts by thinking, “Hey, nobody's getting hurt.”

But, added Trotta, who was imprisoned prior to testifying at the trial of his friends, “I never looked at it like, sitting in jail for 51 months. Emotionally, I destroyed people. I know this now. I do regret hurting everybody I stole anything from.”

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