2 accused of rustling bronze cowboy statue nabbed at border

SEATTLE — Police say two men accused of rustling a 55-pound bronze sculpture of a cowboy out of a Seattle antique store and then making a run for the border were foiled by Canadian officials as they crossed the line near Blaine.

Seattle police say the store owner arrived at work Sunday and noticed the pair loading the 2-foot-tall sculpture called “Bronco Buster” into their pickup. He praised the men for their taste, then walked inside and commended a clerk for selling the $2,500 statue. The only problem: the clerk hadn’t sold any statues that morning.

The shop owner ran outside in time to see the getaway and jotted down the British Columbia license plate number. He gave that to police, who located surveillance photos of the suspects and statue and relayed that information to authorities at the Canadian border.

Now Seattle officers are working with Royal Canadian Mounted Police on the case.