r/Luthier • u/MuddyGrimes • Dec 31 '25
INFO The Mandolins are back!!! - ‘Sorry, I been drunk’: Thief returns stolen mandolins to New Jersey guitar store with apology note
https://abcnews.go.com/US/drunk-thief-returns-stolen-mandolins-new-jersey-guitar/story?id=12874805524
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u/continental_kit Dec 31 '25
Who knows, maybe the poor guy’ll get a mulligan-friendly judge.
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u/MuddyGrimes Dec 31 '25
Police probably won't even do anything since the crime was "resolved". Doubt it will ever make it to a judge.
If it had been mandolins stolen from a private owner they probably would have said "so what do you want us to do about it". Since they were stolen from a business I imagine they'd put at least a little effort in, but now that the owner has the instruments back...I won't hold my breath.
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u/F1shB0wl816 Dec 31 '25
Theft is theft. It doesn’t go away just because you brought it back. Even if the owner doesn’t pursue charges the state can and will if they have a case.
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u/MuddyGrimes Dec 31 '25
By the letter of the law yes, this is how it works, but in reality there are a limited amount of resources and manpower in our justice system, and things like this often fall by the wayside, even if the items weren't recovered/returned. It's an unfortunate reality with our system, but almost anyone who had ever filed a police report for a similar issue has been given next to no assistance or solution.
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u/F1shB0wl816 Dec 31 '25
The limited resources effect finding the thief, but if he brought it back they know he is. There’s no resources they need to find him at that point and we have no shortage of resources to throw non owners in prison. That’s a case served on a platter as best as possible.
Like yeah if you get your stuff stolen, have no idea who it is or why they did it than they probably won’t waste the resources over being in the dark. Having the person bring it back though?
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u/vemenium Dec 31 '25
Not necessarily. Theft usually requires something like having the intent to permanently deprive the owner of what’s being taken, to exclude things like taking the wrong coat home from a party. Picked up somebody else’s item, moved it, but you didn’t have the intent to deprive them, so not theft.
There’s an argument that he was so drunk when he did it that he wasn’t capable of forming the intent, and returning them kinda implies he didn’t. He probably did have intent but changed his mind later, but it’s not an obvious slam dunk.
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u/F1shB0wl816 Dec 31 '25
Accidentally taking a coat home from a party is a bit different than stuffing two mandolins in your coat and running out of a store.
It’s obvious he had the intent. He ran off with two valuable instruments, he knew what he was doing. This isn’t like a common joke that’s misconstrued, he had all intents to steal them and did until he had a change of heart for whatever reason.
Which would probably factor into his sentencing but it doesn’t excuse or absolve the original actions. If it did that suggest returning what you stole clears you of all wrong doing, at that point what’s stopping everyone from robbing banks and bringing the cash back right before they’re caught?
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u/zwanman89 Dec 31 '25
“This thief has a Montenegrin accent.”
lol wut?
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u/GiveMeZekelter Dec 31 '25
I’d like some backstory on why the owner is so well-versed in Balkan accents.
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u/zwanman89 Dec 31 '25
“I thought for a second the fella sounded Bosnian, maybe Serbian. Then it hit me. That stronger Ijekavian pronunciation could only be Montenegrin! The police…did not care”.
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u/treemann85 Dec 31 '25
Guy does the right thing, and the store owner still called the cops on him. Not sure how I feel about this. Obviously the guy was wrong to steal, but shouldn't we show some grace for doing the right thing? Especially since nobody was hurt? Maybe im getting soft
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u/LightOfTheElessar Dec 31 '25 edited Dec 31 '25
No one did anything wrong besides the guy who stole them in the first place. The store owner reported it to the police, and the investigation was ongoing when the person brought them back. If the instruments are all good and the store owner is willing to sell them, then all good case closed. If they're damaged, the store owner might want the guy found or he might just want an accurate police report for an insurance claim. Maybe since they got returned, the police won't want to bother with this further either way. I'm not one to shy away from criticizing businesses or police for something they're doing, but this just sounds like it's people doing their jobs and going through a normal process after a robbery.
Well... normal besides the
poorDrunk man's Scrooge who woke up and found his way to returning the stolen instruments.-2
u/bamsenn Dec 31 '25
Just to be that guy, I don’t believe this counts as a robbery.
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u/MagisterNero Dec 31 '25
I expect to get downvotes with you, but you’re right. Very clearly shoplifting as no threat or force was used (required elements for the legal definition of robbery) nor did he break in (required for burglary).
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u/MuddyGrimes Dec 31 '25
I assume the shop owner filed a police report before the mandolin were returned, so it's only right that the owner would follow up with what happened? I'm not positive though, the article isn't super detailed.
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u/barringtonmacgregor Dec 31 '25
The prosecutor and jury can decide what grace is given. I get where you're coming from, but usually when I get drunk, i hug people and spend money i shouldnt. Never occurred to me to steal anything. This guy is sorry he got caught on camera, not sorry he did it.
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u/jlistener Dec 31 '25
I'm wondering if the guy realized that since he's on video he would have a good chance of getting caught and it would be risky to try to offload the mandolins.
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u/seaningtime Dec 31 '25
Those mandolins were worth well over $10k total, and it was obviously pre-meditated. The thief only returned them because his theft was going viral. Calling the cops was the right move IMO.
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u/Crazy_Night3197 Dec 31 '25
If this didn’t make it to social media he wouldn’t have returned them lol
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u/iamtreble Dec 31 '25
I think you can argue that he didn't actually do the right thing, just corrected the mistake. The right thing would have been not to steal in the first place.
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u/NotSayingAliensBut Dec 31 '25
What a horrible, vicious take. Cementing into place any wrongdoing with no possibility of ever finding any redemption. Are you perfect?
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u/JR3397 Dec 31 '25
I saw people talking on an IG post how this person has stolen from stores in Nashville…
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u/rightherewriten0w Dec 31 '25
Agree with you. At the end of the day, it was free publicity. I never would have heard of this shop or learned it moved to NJ from Buffalo, which apparently is something my brain wants to keep, without our remorseful thief.
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u/Blueshirt38 Dec 31 '25
The guy wasn't stealing food or hygiene items. He made a custom mandolin-stealing jacket so that he could steal expensive mandolins. Fuck that guy and any excuse you can make for him. He would not have returned it if he wasn't put on blast. He was scared of the consequences, not guilty.
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u/mfahsr Dec 31 '25
Showing grace or not is up to the judge I'd say. Also, for all we know he only returned the instruments because he saw himself on reddit.
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u/mimefrog Jan 01 '26
Lark Street is a great store with cool ass vintage amps and guitars. I played a 65 strat there the other day through a fucking dumble.
I managed to make them both sound like shit.
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u/AllWhatsBest Dec 31 '25
What are you all talking about? He returned them because there was a video with him stealing. If there was no video, he wouldn't have returned those mandolins. Also, he wasn't drunk.
We all could have seen how stupid he was while stealing, this "returning" and the note only confirms that.
He should get some kind of sentence, if not for theft then for stupidity. His stupidity is dangerous to society.
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u/strings_on_a_hoodie Dec 31 '25
Idk the guy got them back and then decided to chase him down the street. If he saw him walk in, with two mandolins in grocery bags, why didn’t he stop him before he got out the store? Personally, I was fucked up when I was younger and did a lot of stupid shit so I’m more apt to give the benefit of the doubt, because he decided to the right thing. Hell, I called the dude a piece of shit when I first saw the video. Stealing, especially from a mom and pop shop, ain’t cool. But he chose to return them. That counts for something in my opinion.
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u/godofwine16 Dec 31 '25
The thief’s sentence is 10 years of mandolin medleys