Dozens of guitars stolen over Christmas holiday


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SALT LAKE CITY — A Salt Lake City music shop fell victim to a real holiday scrooge: Thousands of dollars in inventory was cleaned out by thieves on Christmas Day.

Acoustic Music owner Brian Winter estimates over $150,000 worth of guitars and other equipment was stolen from his store at 875 E. 400 South. The thieves took 31 guitars, mandolins and banjos, he said.

"It was gut wrenching," Winter said. "(I) came to work the following day after Christmas and realized we'd lost about half our inventory in high-end guitars."

Winter believes the thieves broke in through the back door sometime between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Between the guitars, cases and other stolen merchandise, he thinks they would have needed more than one trip to get their haul.

Each of the stolen guitars, Winter said, are worth "anywhere from $3,000 up to $8,500." He estimates in total more than $150,000 worth of high-end instruments were taken.

The only saving grace for the business is insurance on the products some would consider priceless. Now Winter just hopes if the guitars show up somewhere they shouldn't, a music lover will take note.

"If they start surfacing, people will know that there's something special, and there's a lot of red flags on guitars like this," he said.

There is no surveillance video in the store, so police hope the suspects try to unload the gear somewhere here in Utah. Perhaps a serial number or identifying marker will lead authorities to the suspects.


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Andrew Wittenberg

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