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Ex-volunteer charged with stealing items from Buffalo museum

Catherine Saunders-Watson
Catherine Saunders-Watson
Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society, Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY. Photo by Maureen from Buffalo, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license
Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society, Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY. Photo by Maureen from Buffalo, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) – A former volunteer at the Buffalo History Museum has been indicted on new federal charges accusing him of stealing documents pertaining to a prominent 20th-century philanthropist and offering to sell them to autograph dealers.

Federal prosecutors announced Thursday that 52-year-old Daniel Witek was inducted on a four-count superseding indictment charging him with mail fraud and interstate transportation of stolen goods.

Authorities say Witek was working as a museum volunteer in the spring of 2013 when he stole historical documents from the collection of Anson Conger Goodyear, a Buffalo-born business tycoon and art collector. Prosecutors say Witek tried to sell the items to autograph dealers in New York City and New Jersey.

Witek was arraigned in federal court and released. It couldn’t be determined if he has a lawyer who could comment on the charges.

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