August 27, 2018 - 9:55 AM
STAMFORD, Conn. - A judge has ruled that the artist who helped place a steel sculpture of a bent drug spoon at Purdue Pharma's Connecticut headquarters can get the artwork back.
The Hartford Courant reports the judge signed an order Monday that Boston-based artist Domenic Esposito can retrieve the sculpture from Stamford police, saying the process could take days.
Esposito and art gallery owner Fernando Luis Alvarez put the 11-foot-long sculpture in front of the company's Stamford headquarters June 22. The nearly 800-pound work symbolizes spoons used by drug abusers.
Esposito says he was inspired by his brother's struggle with drug addiction.
Alvarez is facing charges of obstruction of free passage and interfering with police.
Purdue Pharma has previously denied allegations that its marketing of the painkiller OxyContin contributed to the opioid crisis.
News from © The Associated Press, 2018