Police report reveals Barry’s hidden jewels

Bill Marriott has garages lined with Ferraris and Lamborghinis.

Marion Barry had drawers filled with cuff links. Fifty pairs, to be exact.

I say “had” because they are gone.

The former mayor’s dearly departed cuff link collection was the victim of a robbery of Barry’s apartment in the wee hours of Sept. 28, according to a police report. But there’s more — much more — in the curious document.

Like watches. Twenty of them. Barry, who currently represents Ward 8 on the City Council, told police that someone made off with 20 timepieces. Among them were five Rolexes, seven Omegas, and eight Seikos.

According to the report and police who responded to his call, Barry left his apartment on Orange Street SE and turned off the lights on the way out. He has an alarm system but neglected to activate it. When he returned, the lights were on, the back door was open and the upstairs bedrooms had been ransacked. The report calls it “forced entry” and the suspect “unknown.”

What is known, according to the police report, is that Barry says his cuff links and watches were worth $28,000. The cuff links were worth $6,000. He says the five Rolexes, which were four years old, were worth $15,000. The seven Omegas were six years old and worth $5,000. And so forth.

The police depreciated the jewelry, reduced Barry’s valuation by half, and estimated the value of the stolen property at $14,000. The value of this police report is that Barry can use it to collect homeowners insurance.

The police report also might help answer some nagging questions about Barry’s finances, in particular his inability to pay taxes. In 2005, Barry pleaded guilty to failing to pay taxes on $530,000 in earnings from 1999, when he left his fourth term as mayor, to 2004.

In those five years, the former mayor was stocking up on jewelry. According to the dates Barry listed on the police report, Barry came into the five Rolex watches in 2003, when he was not paying taxes.

I called Barry’s council office to find out whether the cuff links and watches were presents or purchases, but I got no response. Let’s assume the watches were gifts. They had value and could have gone to pay taxes.

I take no joy in reporting the details of the break-in to Marion Barry’s home. This is the second time the former mayor has been the victim of a crime. On Jan. 2, Barry told police he had been held up at gunpoint by two young men who took his wallet packed with $200 in cash.

Keep in mind that Barry failed to pay his back taxes, even after he admitted he owed them. Prosecutors hauled him back into court and asked for jail time, but the judge gave Barry even more time to pay.

Here’s the silver lining: Perhaps Barry can apply any insurance claims from the filched jewelry to pay the taxman.

Harry Jaffe has been covering the Washington area since 1985. E-mail him at hjaffe@washingtonian.com.

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