Comrade recovers some of lawyer’s stolen artifacts

Kim Smith

Friday, May 11, 2001 | 10:33 a.m.

Defense attorney Osvaldo "Ozzie" Fumo took fellow attorney Thomas Pitaro out to lunch last week and gave him far more than a free meal.

Pitaro got some priceless historical artifacts back.

On April 11, when Pitaro was in the midst of the Margaret Rudin trial, someone burglarized and ransacked his Third Street office and broke his heart by stealing a number of items he had treasured for years. One of the items was an autograph of John Quincy Adams and another was a letter penned in 1765 by James Otis, whom many consider to be the father of the search warrant and an instigator in the American Revolution.

The other items included a sketch of the Battle of Concord and an historical proclamation.

Pitaro figured he'd never see them again.

But, thanks to a couple of Fumo's clients, he lucked out.

Fumo said he was walking into his Bonneville Street office recently when a man in a white van offered him a deal on some pictures.

Fumo said "No" without even looking at the items. He didn't know, however, that a couple of his clients decided to take the man up on his offer.

They got the man to accept $150 instead of the $500 he was asking for and gave the items to Fumo as a present.

Fumo immediately recognized the items, paid his clients back and promptly called Pitaro.

"I invited him to lunch and then I put one of the things up on the wall," Fumo said. "I said 'Yeah, do you recognize that picture?' and he put his hand over his heart and said 'Yeah, it's mine.' "

Fumo said Pitaro offered to reimburse him for the items, but he was just happy to see they were returned to their proper owner.

"I just can't believe the stupid idiots were selling the things in the same vicinity they stole them from," Fumo said.