CORAL SPRINGS, FLA. (WSVN) - Thieves took off with thousands of dollars worth of music equipment from a music school on Coral Springs, but the owners said they have recovered the stolen items.
There are school recitals, and then there are School of Rock live concerts.
Burny Pelsmajer, one of the owners of the School of Rock in Coral Springs, said this is how students showcase their hard work.
“School of Rock is a performance-based music school,” he said. “For most of the students who come here, not only do they get a traditional music lesson, but they also come and start playing with other students, even from the first week.”
Their latest recital, or concert, almost didn’t happen, after someone stole all of their equipment from their school.
Pelsmajer said the thieves took about $20,000 worth of equipment from their van.
“Somebody had broken our passenger side window and opened up the van and taken everything,” he said, “and for the production of the show, we have so much equipment in there. We have PA speakers, drum set.”
Because there is so much equipment, they began to load the van days before the event. The vehicle was filled with the expensive items from floor to ceiling.
“On Wednesday, before our show weekend, someone came in and was like, ‘I think there’s something wrong with your van,'” said Pelsmajer.
Pelsmajer said he went outside to find broken glass on the ground and the equipment gone.
“They just cleaned the van,” he said.
With only days left before a major show, Pelsmajer didn’t blink. He began to borrow equipment from his other schools and bought whatever else was necessary to put on a good show.
“I rented a van, ’cause this one was broken, and we just were able to still produce the show,” he said.
Days later, Pelsmajer said, a surprise was waiting for him when it was time to fix the van’s broken glass.
“I went there, and I sat down, and I casually look behind me, and I [did a double take], and I ran outside and open the back of the van, and all the equipment was put back in the van,” he said.
Pelsmajer believes the thief or thieves had a change of heart.
“The fact that they returned it, like, I’m thankful for that, but anything they [were trying to achieve] was, they were trying to hurt children, and it didn’t work,” he said.
Police believe the theft was an inside job. Officers lifted fingerprints from the returned equipment, as they continue to investigate.
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