Longboat auction sells collectible art, jewlery

That’s the way it went for a variety of collectable paintings and gems Friday at an auction in the ballroom of the Zota Beach Resort. There were signed Picasso’s, an original H. Claude Pissarro, and the paraiba stone — “the most sought after stone in the world today.”

More than 20 people wandered through rows of dozens of painting, sculptures and jewelry.

Although most of those items came from bankruptcies, liquidations and distressed goods, about 5% of the more than 500 items brought to the Zota Beach Resort for auction are goods acquired by police seizure, auctioneer Gary Getz said.

Seizure and forfeiture laws give law enforcement officials the authority to take anything they believe was used to commit a crime or is the result of criminal action.

“The items are coming from all over the country,” Getz said.

The Longboat Key Police Department is in the middle of such an action, seeking to take the home of Wayne Natt, who is accused of video voyeurism. If the Police Department wins the civil lawsuit, the two-story condo Natt owns at Cedars East will become the property of the Longboat Key Police Department.

That ownership would give the department latitude to do what it pleases with the property, including selling it at auction.

Darryl Binder said he came to the auction Friday to check out the hotel, which opened in 2017, and to see if there were any interesting goods for sale. As for the items seized by police: “It’s good if [police] make some money off it,” Binder said.