A suspected crook struck a sour note after stealing instruments worth tens of thousands of dollars.
The man accused of orchestrating the crime stole from South Florida’s youth, and despite an arrest, the pricey instruments have not been returned.
The Youth Orchestra of Palm Beach County performs four or five concerts every year. A few weeks ago, the group’s executive director went to check on their instruments at Life Storage in unincorporated Boca Raton.
“The second I opened the door, I realized there had been instruments gone and a break in,” said Michael Fraley, a conductor at the Youth Orchestra of Palm Beach County.
Not just some instruments — a lot — about 60 of them.
“We’re talking about upwards of $30,000,” said Fraley.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said the suspect has a storage unit there also. They said he went in, scaled the 10-foot fence and helped himself.
“I couldn’t sleep that night, and really, it’s kind of consumed me the past couple of weeks that involved in this,” said Fraley.
That’s because while most of the orchestra students have their own instruments, the ones that were stolen were used by children who can’t afford their own but still want to play.
“We work so hard to do right things for kids and provide a great service for kids,” said Fraley. “Music does a lot for children, and to see someone just come in and just wipe us out like that, it was very distressing.”
Investigators said a check of pawn shops led them to their suspect.
Last week, a deputy stopped by the storage facility and just happened to spot the suspect stealing from another unit.
They said the man confessed to stealing the instruments and selling them to pawn shops.
“The double basses, are the bridges all snapped off? What kind of condition they’re in? I have no idea,” said Fraley. “I’ve been told they’re at 10 different pawn shops in Broward County.”
They may have to buy back their own instruments. Fraley said they’ll do what’s necessary to make sure they can still offer music to any child who wants to play.
“Music does so much for them, and to lose that ability to do that now is very disturbing,” said Fraley.
To help the Youth Orchestra of Palm Beach County, click here.
Copyright 2025 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.