More than $100K in Stolen Art Crammed in Terry Helbing's Cramped Tenderloin Room

This minor piece was not discovered in Terry Helbing's Tenderloin SRO hotel room -- but other works with an estimated value of more than $100,000 were

​The arrest of a suspected Tenderloin thief jumped from police blotter material to Movie of the Week yesterday, when police carted a cache of stolen paintings, rugs, and other works of art potentially valued at more than $100,000 out of his SRO hotel room. Police claim they've already tracked down the rightful owners of several of the pieces.

Terry Helbing, 53, is being described as an art lover gone wrong -- even by his alleged victims. A pair of century-old paintings are part of a haul valued at $15,000 taken from the library of the Botanical Gardens in Golden Gate Park in April -- and recovered yesterday from Helbing's hotel room.

Helbing purportedly told folks at the Botanical Garden about his great love of art. Yet they also saw him walk off with a painting one day and had to chase him down to get it back. So when he showed up again on Tuesday, the police were summoned. A search warrant was obtained, and investigators perused Helbing's collection yesterday.

It was apparently not a museum-worthy exhibit.



According to the San Francisco Police, Helbing's small SRO room was crammed with art -- far more than could be displayed in an exhibition-like way. If anything, Helbing's room resembled a storage closet.

Police spokesman Officer Albie Esparza said Helbing does have an arrest history, but he is unable to release more specifics than that. The Tenderloin resident remains remains incarcerated this morning and has been charged with burglary and multiple counts of stolen property. Investigators will today present the case to the District Attorney's office for prosecution.

Follow us on Twitter at @TheSnitchSF and @SFWeekly