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They're not stealing high end stuff for the most part, but interesting. Speculation about forums at the end.
Guitars are pick of these thieves
Owners gently weep at rash of ax thefts
Friday, January 30, 2009 BY LESLIE KWOH
Star-Ledger Staff
There must be a rock band out there in serious need of some new strings.
In recent months, police in several New Jersey towns have noticed an unusual number of burglaries involving more than $11,000 worth of expensive guitars with brand names like Fender, Gretsch, Iba nez, Martin, Schecter and Squire.
In all, 11 guitars and one ampli fier have been stolen in six separate burglaries at homes in Summit, Roselle Park and Montclair. In one of the incidents, a group of masked intruders beat up several of the residents who were home at the time. Now, authorities from the three towns are working together to determine whether the incidents are linked.
"This is certainly unusual," Montclair Police Lt. James Carlucci said. "I don't ever really recall our town having burglaries where gui tars were stolen at such a high fre quency."
For Montclair, the trouble began in early November, when a $500 Fender Stratocaster electric guitar was stolen from an apart ment while its residents were gone during the day, Carlucci said.
Police started to suspect they were dealing with a serious problem in December, when two Fender electrics, valued at $200 and $600, went missing from two homes in a span of four days. That was shortly before another three electric gui tars, a 1961 Martin and two Ibanez basses worth $2,600, were snatched in a break-in, along with an Apple computer and iPod.
The musical mayhem reached Union County on Tuesday, when two towns reported guitar burglaries within hours of each other. In Roselle Park, a group of brazen thieves wearing ski masks entered an unlocked apartment, which was occupied by five males at the time, and assaulted two of the residents by repeatedly hitting and kicking them, police said. By the time officers responded, $7,000 worth of gui tars were gone, including a Schecter Diamond series, a Gretsch Tennessee Rose and a Gretsch Black Falcon. Police noted the group left behind other valuable electronics.
Meanwhile, residents of a Summit home awoke the same day to find missing their Fender Musicmaster bass, a Squire Telecaster and a Fender amplifier -- valued at a total of $850.
Police said it was unusual that the thieves had entered the homes even though they were occupied at the time.
"It's not common because most burglars target houses when people aren't home," said Summit Police Lt. Steven Zagorski.
Carlucci said officers in Mont clair have been scouring websites like eBay and Craigslist to see whether the guitars are being re sold. The three departments are also working to determine whether the victims shared anything in common, such as membership in online music forums, he
They're not stealing high end stuff for the most part, but interesting. Speculation about forums at the end.
Guitars are pick of these thieves
Owners gently weep at rash of ax thefts
Friday, January 30, 2009 BY LESLIE KWOH
Star-Ledger Staff
There must be a rock band out there in serious need of some new strings.
In recent months, police in several New Jersey towns have noticed an unusual number of burglaries involving more than $11,000 worth of expensive guitars with brand names like Fender, Gretsch, Iba nez, Martin, Schecter and Squire.
"This is certainly unusual," Montclair Police Lt. James Carlucci said. "I don't ever really recall our town having burglaries where gui tars were stolen at such a high fre quency."
For Montclair, the trouble began in early November, when a $500 Fender Stratocaster electric guitar was stolen from an apart ment while its residents were gone during the day, Carlucci said.
Police started to suspect they were dealing with a serious problem in December, when two Fender electrics, valued at $200 and $600, went missing from two homes in a span of four days. That was shortly before another three electric gui tars, a 1961 Martin and two Ibanez basses worth $2,600, were snatched in a break-in, along with an Apple computer and iPod.
The musical mayhem reached Union County on Tuesday, when two towns reported guitar burglaries within hours of each other. In Roselle Park, a group of brazen thieves wearing ski masks entered an unlocked apartment, which was occupied by five males at the time, and assaulted two of the residents by repeatedly hitting and kicking them, police said. By the time officers responded, $7,000 worth of gui tars were gone, including a Schecter Diamond series, a Gretsch Tennessee Rose and a Gretsch Black Falcon. Police noted the group left behind other valuable electronics.
Meanwhile, residents of a Summit home awoke the same day to find missing their Fender Musicmaster bass, a Squire Telecaster and a Fender amplifier -- valued at a total of $850.
Police said it was unusual that the thieves had entered the homes even though they were occupied at the time.
"It's not common because most burglars target houses when people aren't home," said Summit Police Lt. Steven Zagorski.
Carlucci said officers in Mont clair have been scouring websites like eBay and Craigslist to see whether the guitars are being re sold. The three departments are also working to determine whether the victims shared anything in common, such as membership in online music forums, he
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