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LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - Lawrenceville police said a recent robbery is one of the most bizarre thefts they have seen. A man spent nearly an hour inside a Lawrenceville music store collecting stolen items and sticking them in his pants.
“He had so much he was taking, he had to loosen his belt to fit all the items down there,” said Lawrenceville Police Detective Scott Pendergrass.
Detectives said the man went into Jireh Music Supply on Buford Drive, wanting to sell his guitar and other music equipment. While an employee was appraising the guitar, the thief made his way around the store collecting items for about 45 minutes.
“It wasn’t until we started noticing a couple of other things missing that we started really reviewing other footage from a lot of the cameras,” said Jireh Music Supply owner Gene Byce.
In the surveillance video, the thief busted open one of the displays and placed an item in his pocket. Then, he walked over to another part of the store, taking the items out of the box and setting them aside.
"Successfully has it concealed, but does not realize there is a camera there,” said Pendergrass.
The crook then turned around and realizes there is a camera.
“He has a moment of regret and pulls the item back out of his pocket," Pendergrass said. “He walks out where he believes he is out of camera view and then reinserts it into his pants.”
Detectives said the crook took off with a guitar petal, an audio mixer set and a pair of high-end ear bud headphones.
A big loss for the 22-year small family-owned business.
“When they take something from us, they are taking food out of my kids mouths,” said Byce. “That is personal. I mean that is no different then if you came up and demanded the money out of my pocket.”
Investigators ask anyone with information to contact the Lawrenceville Police Department. at 7709632443.