Life-size dinosaur statue still missing after Oklahoma police make arrest in the case

A life-size dinosaur statue hauled away on one man’s shoulders is still missing — even after police in Oklahoma made an arrest in the case.

“JURASSIC THIEF ARRESTED,” the Tulsa Police Department shared to Facebook. “Unfortunately, the Deinonychus statue is still missing.”

Police say the life-size statue was stolen from Decopolis — an art deco-themed museum — on Dec. 26, 2021 and the thief was captured taking it on surveillance camera video.

In the video shared to Facebook by Decopolis, a masked man is seen taking the dinosaur from its base before carrying the Deinonychus as he walked away.

The Deinonychus, which lived throughout the Cretaceous period, stood about 3 feet high and was up to 11 feet long.

Police say that same man was also caught on video while stealing several copper plaques from the American Association of Petroleum Geologists — “another prehistoric related crime” — and is accused of removing copper tubing from the air-conditioner units of a church.

The man accused of a “list of abominable crimes” was arrested on Monday, Jan. 31 and he confessed to some of those crimes, though police did not say which ones.

“At this time, unfortunately, we have not recovered the missing statue of the prehistoric reptile species,” police said. “If you see this stature of this carnivore around, please give us a call at 918-596-9222.”

While the original Deinonychus statue has not been found, Decopolis shared that it got replacement dinosaurs a few days before the arrest.

This story was originally published February 1, 2022 at 1:10 PM with the headline "Life-size dinosaur statue still missing after Oklahoma police make arrest in the case."