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SANDY — Police are working to determine whether two recent thefts of expensive guitars in three days are related, and if they are connected to incidents last year when several other rare guitars were stolen in Utah and later discovered in Las Vegas.
On Aug. 21, a man entered Riverton Music, 9491 S. 255 West, and spent about 35 minutes in the store, said Sandy Police Sgt. Jason Nielsen. At one point, the man picked up a Taylor PS14 acoustic guitar, sat down and played it.
He later walked out of the store with the $7,000 instrument.
Three days later, on Aug. 24, when the store was closed, someone broke out the window to the room dedicated to displaying Taylor guitars, Nielsen said. Six more guitars with an estimated value of $30,000 were stolen.
Based on where the break-in occurred, Nielsen said the Taylor guitars were likely targeted and not grabbed at random.
Anyone with information on either incident can call Sandy police at 801-799-3000.
Investigators also are trying to determine whether the thefts are linked to another series of stolen guitars in Utah last year.
Murphy's Guitars in Bountiful had a $1,300 guitar stolen in April 2016, and Best in Music in Orem had a limited edition John Lennon guitar valued at $10,000 stolen. One man was arrested in that incident.
But Nielsen said other guitars reported stolen from Orem later showed up in Las Vegas. Detectives were looking Tuesday whether the same ring was connected to Sandy's robberies.
In March 2016, nearly a dozen high-end acoustic guitars worth an estimated $37,000 were stolen from Riffs Acoustic Music in Park City.
In 2015, a man was charged with stealing seven guitars from Guitar Center, 5752 S. Redwood Road, worth an estimated $55,000.
