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What happened minute-by-minute in the Dallas Museum of Art as an intruder called 911

Calls show Dallas Police dispatch was the first to alert museum security someone was inside the building about 17 minutes after police say he entered.

When Dallas police arrived at the Dallas Museum of Art on the night of June 1, they found its glass entrance shattered. Inside, a 21-year-old man, identified by police as Brian Hernandez, was sitting on a bench, according to police.

Moving between three floors of the building, police said, Hernandez seriously damaged at least four artworks at the museum — three Ancient Greek vessels and a contemporary Native American work — in addition to other property.

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Hernandez entered the museum at about 9:46 p.m., police said, and immediately began throwing items on the ground. By 9:50 p.m., he had allegedly broken three pieces from the fifth and sixth centuries B.C.

A 6th century B.C. Greek amphora, a type of vessel used for storage, was among the items...
A 6th century B.C. Greek amphora, a type of vessel used for storage, was among the items badly damaged at the DMA.

Police arrived at the museum at about 10:16 p.m., 30 minutes after Hernandez’s destructive spree began, they said. Hernandez was arrested and charged with criminal mischief of $300,000 or more. His lawyer didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Here’s the full timeline of events, according to 911 calls and police records. Police based their description, they said, on security footage and a walkthrough of the museum.

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The break-in

At about 9:40 p.m., Hernandez approaches the front entrance of the museum on Flora Street holding a metal chair, police said.

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Hernandez enters the museum and begins throwing objects on the ground, including a laptop, according to police. He walks further into the building where he flips over a bench and destroys two wooden display signs, police said.

(Michael Hogue)

From there, he heads to the second floor, where he enters the museum’s ancient Mediterranean gallery. Inside, according to police, he punches a glass display case several times.

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He exits the gallery and goes back to the museum’s entrance where he retrieves a metal stool. He then goes back upstairs to the ancient Mediterranean gallery and hits two more display cases, police said, shattering them and breaking three ancient Greek ceramic vessels inside. He shatters a third case before leaving, according to police.

Note: Exact location not known
Note: Exact location not known(Michael Hogue)

Hernandez leaves the Mediterranean gallery and enters the museum’s third floor decorative arts and design gallery, police said. He uses a stanchion to shatter four display cases, according to police.

Note: Exact location not known
Note: Exact location not known(Michael Hogue)

Hernandez appears in the concourse of the museum back on the first floor where he picks up a phone and throws it at the ground, according to police. He walks south through the concourse and picks up a hand sanitizer stand, which he uses to break open another glass display case, police said. Reaching inside, he picks up a contemporary Native American artwork and throws it to the ground, shattering it, according to police.

The 911 calls

Police records show that at 9:58 p.m., 911 receives a call from the DMA that is labeled a hangup. One minute later, another call from the DMA goes through to a 911 dispatcher.

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“Hey, I’m in the Dallas Museum of Art,” a man says. “Come get me.”

Police contact museum security, reaching them at about 10:03 p.m. In a conversation that lasts about 2½ minutes, the 911 dispatcher tells security, “I don’t know if someone’s in your building.”

The dispatcher reads back the phone number of the call 911 received, confirming with Roblez it is the museum’s.

“The only other person I know that’s here is security,” Roblez says.

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The dispatcher then plays a recording of the call to Roblez to see if he recognizes the voice. Roblez says he does not.

The dispatcher asks if Roblez wants police sent to the museum or if he wants to check on the situation first. Roblez says his group would double-check first, telling her “I’ve got three officers. They’re all about to split out.”

Police receive two more calls from the museum, records show. The first is labeled a hangup. Police label the incident as a burglary in progress at 10:05 p.m. The second call is a man believed to be the burglar again.

“Hi, I’m in the Dallas Museum of Art,” a man says.

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“What is the physical address there?” a dispatcher asks.

“I just broke in,” he says.

At some point before, during or just after the series of calls, Hernandez walks north through the concourse and then back south to the entrance where he originally stepped inside, according to police. He damages a computer monitor and another phone, police said. Security then locates him, according to police, though it’s unclear when exactly.

Officers respond at 10:10 p.m. and arrive at the museum at about 10:16 p.m. They find Hernandez sitting on a bench just inside the building, having been apprehended by security, they said. Hernandez is arrested at 10:21 p.m.

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Police said another DMA security guard, Luis Gomez, who was with Hernandez in the museum, told them a motion sensor went off, prompting them to check security cameras. After seeing cables on the ground in the concourse, Gomez and Roblez headed to the area, where they found Hernandez, according to police.