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APEX — Keith Adams says he simply wanted to reclaim more than 30 of his paintings that were inside Bistro 155, a restaurant that had recently closed.

The attorney for the building's owner had told Adams to be patient and wait until an inventory of the building was complete. But on Jan. 31, Adams entered the shuttered restaurant, which he says was unlocked, and left with artwork he says was inspired by a recent battle with cancer.

Later that day, Adams, 44, of Angier, found himself behind bars, charged with breaking and entering and larceny.

"The art I was accused of stealing is my art," he says.

Adams, a former police officer, says he called Apex police to tell them he'd taken the paintings so they wouldn't think they had been stolen. But Apex police Capt. Christopher Myhand says police had urged him to work through a lawyer to get his artwork back and not to take matters into his own hands.

"The fact that he turned himself in doesn't negate the crime," says Myhand, who is in charge of the investigation.

After spending an hour in the Wake County jail and posting a $50,000 unsecured bail bond, Adams was released.

Adams' abstract paintings had brightened up Bistro 155, at the corner of U.S. 1 and N.C. 55, since September, shortly after the restaurant opened. According to Adams, restaurant owner Tommy Williford contacted him by email to ask him to be the resident artist for the new restaurant.

Adams only became serious about making art three years ago when he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a type of cancer that collects in bone marrow and diminishes the bones. Before that, he spent 23 years working as a police officer in Cary and for the U.S. Marshals.

In 2010, Adams had a stem-cell bone marrow transplant. He spent the next year undergoing chemotherapy.

"My artwork is how I supplement my disability," says Adams, who is now in remission.

When he agreed to allow Williford to use his art, Adams says he was promised 100 percent commission of any piece that sold in the restaurant.

Williford is a former co-owner of Williford Funeral Home in Fuquay-Varina, and he ran unsuccessfully for town commissioner there in November.

On the Facebook page for his campaign, Williford says, "I want to bring a bit of common sense to town government, a voice that would help run the town as if they were a business."

But Williford's restaurant didn't do well. He stopped paying rent in November, according to Whitfield Gibson, attorney for building owner Nick Angelis.

Williford owed Angelis about $35,000 in unpaid rent and roughly $60,000 for the furniture and equipment that filled the restaurant, says Gibson.

Williford was evicted from the building on Jan. 13 and was forced to close Bistro 155. Attempts to reach him were unsuccessful.

When Adams learned the restaurant had closed, he says he contacted Gibson about getting back his artwork.

"I told him once we did an inventory of the space, if he'd just be patient, we would give him his property back," Gibson says.

Criminal charges

Adams couldn't wait; he says he feared someone else would take his paintings. So on Jan. 30, Adams went to the restaurant to reclaim them. He says someone inside, whom he didn't recognize, slammed a door in his face. He says he contacted Apex police and reported the incident.

Myhand says an officer spoke with Adams that day and told him he would need to get a lawyer to get his paintings back.

The next day, Adams returned to the restaurant. The doors were unlocked, he says, though Apex police officers say they found the doors were secured when they arrived. Adams reclaimed 26 of his 31 paintings, which were valued at $5,875, according to his arrest warrant. He says he then called the Apex Police Department to report that he'd seized his property.

"He was very straightforward in admitting to taking the paintings," says Myhand.

One of the paintings Adams retrieved from Bistro 155 is called "Alive and Free." He says he was inspired to make it after he went through chemotherapy. Now, he says, he'll have even more material to inspire his art.

"I don't think I did anything wrong," Adams says. "I stand behind what I did."

Adams is scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 22, when he'll learn whether the judge believes there was probable cause for his charges.