Tulsa Police seeking help in solving a music store burglary

Tuesday, December 9th 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

A music store break-in stole the Christmas spirit from a Tulsa business owner. Tulsa Police say there has been a string of high dollar burglaries where the thieves cut the phone lines before hauling off the loot.

News on 6 crime reporter Lori Fullbright says Tuesday's early morning break-in fits that MO and the loss could be more than $30,000 in missing equipment.

Randy Genet's owned Music Sound World near 27th and Memorial for the past 29 years. It's a family business with a steady base of customers. They haven't had a break-in in years, but this one is a doozie.

This burglary took more than a few minutes, because after the thieves cut the phone lines and knocked a hole in the wall, they had to haul big, heavy equipment through it and load it into some type of vehicle. Police recovered a crow bar they believe the thieves used to rip the wall open.

Once inside, the burglars made a beeline for the newest, most expensive, sophisticated sound equipment, which could be sold for pennies on the dollar on the street. "It'd be pretty easy to spot, brand new equipment with no boxes or owners' manuals and the person won't know how to work it at all and if it seems to be too good to be true, it's probably not true."

One theory is they were stealing what they needed to set up their own studio. They also broke into the cash register and took cash from the office, making a tough business, even tougher. "Just tough on you but you get through it."

Lori Fullbright: "What do you think of the mentality of who did this?" Genet: "As my dad used to say, desperate people do desperate things."

The store did have an elaborate alarm system, but as with most of them, once the phone lines are cut, the system no longer works. Alarm companies now offer a cellular phone back up system that solves that problem.

Tulsa Police say they're having on average two burglaries like this a month, so they'd appreciate any information people have about who's doing this. You can call Crimestoppers at 596-COPS.