More than $40,000 worth of guitars were stolen from the Gibson Custom Shop in Nashville early Tuesday morning after a man in a white truck broke into the facility.
The burglar was caught on tape and stole 10 guitars in total.
The guitars made at the Gibson Custom Shop are top-of-the-line and cost a minimum of $4,000 a piece, but up to more than $10,000 per guitar.
Investigators with the Metro Nashville Police Department were called to the Gibson Custom Guitar Shop at 1612 Elm Hill Pike around 5 a.m. Tuesday.
A security guard noticed signs of a break-in at the location and called emergency dispatchers.
Officers and K-9 units were called to the scene to look for clues into what happened. The Metro Police Mobile Crime Unit also responded to the shop.
The video showed the man enter the shop around 3:40 a.m. By 4:06 a.m. emergency dispatchers had officers enroute.
Police said the suspect cut through a fence at the rear of the property before breaking a window.
The suspect was seen fleeing the scene in a white car.
Walter Carter with Carter Vintage Guitars, a Gibson Custom Shop dealer, said that when guitars are stolen, shops keep an eye out in hopes to help nab the burglar.
“Dealers do communicate with each other about this kind of thing," Carter said, adding that there are signs a guitar is stolen. “If the serial numbers are obliterated or removed, it’s a sure sign that they’re stolen.”
In this case, the guitars were stolen without certificates of authenticity and without cases.
Anyone with information about the incident should contact the Metro Police Hermitage Precinct at 615-862-6993 or Crime Stoppers at 615-74-CRIME (615-742-7463).
