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SALT LAKE CITY — Police arrested a couple who allegedly stole a bass guitar worth an estimated $10,000 in January.
A musician had finished playing an event at the Grand America Hotel and just loaded his 1963 Fender Precision Bass into his car when someone took the instrument while he went back to grab more equipment, according to police.
Detectives reviewed hotel surveillance video that recorded someone walking off with the bass.
On Thursday, police were notified that the bass was found on Craigslist. Detectives did a background check on the phone number associated with the ad and discovered the person with that number matched the description of the thief seen in the video, said Salt Lake Police Sgt. Keith Horrocks.
Undercover officers then arranged to buy the guitar on Friday, he said. For an unknown reason, the seller backed out at the last minute. But officers knew he was in the area and with the assistance of the department’s Organized Crime Unit and bike patrol were able to track him down near 500 S. State and arrest him, Horrocks said. Inside his car was the stolen guitar.
The suspects, Andrew Liston, 32, and Angelica Roberts, 32, were arrested and booked into jail. The classic guitar was returned to the owner. Great work by #SLCPD officers!! #dontstealpic.twitter.com/n9yeyyDOih
— SLC Police Dept. (@slcpd) March 2, 2020
Andrew Barrett Liston, 32, of Cottonwood Heights, and his girlfriend, Angelica Marie Roberts, 32, of Bountiful, who was also in the car, were arrested for investigation of theft.
“Liston admitted to taking the guitar and attempting to sell the guitar for rent money,” according to a police affidavit.
According to court records, both Liston and Roberts have lengthy criminal histories for mostly drug-related crimes.
