Two arrested in paintings heist

After six months, Laguna Beach artist John Cosby will get some of his stolen paintings back.

Police have arrested two people suspected of stealing about $750,000 of paintings by Cosby in April, according to Laguna Beach Police Sgt. Darin Lenyi.

One of the stolen paintings was being sold through the Internet.

Detectives arrested Michael Alan Voss, 49, and Thomas Edward Hendricks, 55, both of Laguna Niguel.

The pair was alleged to have been involved in the South Laguna heist of about 250 paintings from Cosby’s garage.

Hendricks and Voss pled not guilty to charges of receiving stolen property and denied theft charges.

Police located one of the stolen paintings on an Internet auction site. They then spoke with one of the suspects and obtained evidence that led to the discovery and seizure of the paintings in an Irvine storage facility.

They also retrieved paintings from a residence and Hendricks’ car, police said.

Voss was arrested without incident at his home Nov. 7 on suspicion of felony possession of stolen property.

Hendricks was arrested at his home the next day after allegedly attempting to flee detectives; the department is seeking District Attorney approval for additional charges of resisting arrest and possession of drug paraphernalia.

The pair is currently being housed at Central Men’s Jail. Hendricks is being held on $850,000 bail; his next court appearance will be Nov. 13. Voss is being held on $50,000 bail. His next appearance will be Nov. 21.