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Police investigation launched after man steals limited-edition Gretsch by swapping it with damaged acoustic
The guitar is valued at $3,000.
Credit: Nashville Used & New Music
A police investigation has been launched following a theft which occurred at Nashville Used & New Music. A man was captured on CCTV swapping a high-value, limited-edition Gretsch model with a damaged acoustic guitar and then walking out of the store.
The model taken was a Gretsch G6229TG Players Edition Sparkle Jet in Ocean Turquoise Sparkle, valued at $3,000. Metro Nashville Police are continuing to search for the suspect and the store itself is offering a $200 reward for any information which could assist in tracking down the model.
In the footage shared of the incident, the man can be seen walking into the store with a gig bag. It is reported that he asked to speak to the store’s guitar tech, who was out on a lunch break, and then told staff he would wait around in the store. He can then be seen swapping out the Gretsch with a beaten up Recording King model.
Police believe he worked with an accomplice who acted as a decoy to distract staff, and that the timing of the incident suggests it was pre-planned. You can view the CCTV below:
Speaking to US-based news channel WSMV, store manager Ryan Shrader says (via Guitar World): “I felt like it was a pretty brazen move, but I was not too surprised. These days there is not a whole lot that surprises me. It’s disappointing, these things do happen.
“Around 80 percent of the time we are able to stop these things or at least recover the items for the original owner,” he adds. “It’s kind of part of the territory. I will say they seem to get more and more creative over the years, more savvy about techniques.”
Nashville Used & New Music is the longest-operating full-line music store in Nashville. You can find out more about the business over at its official website.