The audio was just released from a controversial June 1st 911 call. And it was a call from the vandal who broke into the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA). And he called the police to report his crime.

“Hey, I’m in the Dallas Museum of Art. Come get me,” said Brian Hernandez, 21, to the 911 police dispatcher.

He smashed through the glass at the building’s front entrance around 9:40 p.m. And made the call after he had been inside the museum for about 15 minutes. Before security and police arrived, he destroyed millions of dollars worth of art.  

According to the Dallas Morning News, museum security had no idea anyone was even in the building. As a response to the 911 call, Dallas police dispatch notified DMA security personnel of the break-in.

Before Hernandez made the call, he used a stool to smash open at least two display cases that contained rare artifacts. And he destroyed four items worth over an estimated 5 million dollars. This includes three irreplaceable ancient Greek pieces, a vase, a box, and a drinking cup. And he also destroyed a Caddo alligator gar effigy bottle.

Initial accounts of the break-in claimed that Hernandez set off a motion detector. And an alarm alerted DMA security that someone was in the building.

Dallas Museum of Art security 

The 911 call was not reported for 6 months. The museum’s security system was not functioning. And the guards did not hear or respond to the 9:47 p.m. disturbance and vandalism of the museum.

If Hernandez hadn’t called the police on himself, he could have escaped.

Robert Edsel, who founded the Dallas-based Monuments Men and Women Foundation, said, “I’m shocked, and I’m very disappointed. I’m as bothered by the lack of transparency by museum leadership as I am by the revelation about the alarm system not functioning at all.”

DMA issued an updated statement, “As stated in our message to the community in June, we have continued to spend a tremendous amount of time and resources reflecting on and assessing the circumstances surrounding the break-in on June 1.”

“In recognition of the need to take serious action as soon as possible, we committed to hiring a third-party consulting firm at that time to review and assess our security measures and facilities. This decision was made to ensure we rely on industry best practices to deter and mitigate similar situations moving forward,” he added.

When the police arrived in response to Hernandez’s 911 call, he was arrested. And charged with “criminal mischief of more than or equal to $300,000.” 

He is still being held in county jail awaiting trial with a $100,000 bail set.