Police recovering guitars stolen after falling off truck
Published 4:45 pm Thursday, January 26, 2017
Photo Courtesy of the Elizabethton Police Department
Police were able to use this photo captured by a security camera to identify a man and woman involved in the theft of two guitars belonging to the Carter County School System that fell off a truck onto a busy city street.
Police have recovered three of the guitars belonging to the Carter County School System which were stolen after falling off a truck onto a busy city street last week, and officers say they are in the process of recovering the remaining missing guitars.
Shortly after 2 p.m. on Jan. 19, several guitars belonging to the school system fell off a trailer during transport, near the intersection of North Lynn Avenue and Broad Street.
“Before the driver was able to stop the truck and return to the scene, some of the guitars had been taken,” said Elizabethton Police Department Capt. Joy Shoun.
Initial reports on the incident indicated as many as 20 guitars were stolen after falling off the truck. Shoun said that was an estimate made at the scene before officers and school officials had a chance to review the inventory on the truck.
“Once we were able to do that inventory we were able to determine only five had actually been taken,” Shoun said, adding a total of eight guitars fell off the truck, and three were recovered at the scene.
On Thursday morning, Shoun announced officers had been able to identify the individuals who had taken three of the guitars. She said those involved cooperated with officers, who were able to recover the stolen guitars.
Also on Thursday morning, Shoun released security camera footage of a man and woman involved in the theft of the remaining two guitars.
“We received a lot of feedback on the photos we released and were able to identify the individuals,” Shoun said Thursday afternoon. “We received cooperation from those individuals, and we’re in the process of recovering the last two guitars.”
No charges have been placed at this time regarding the theft of the guitars, Shoun said.
“We’re still looking into that,” she said. “That is something we will consider once the final two guitars are recovered.”
The Carter County School System obtained the guitars through a grant program by Tennessee Center for Civic Learning and Engagement, a non-profit organization that provides educational programs and resources for students across the state.
