A couple of car thieves who stole a San Diego woman’s van also nabbed something from her 12-year-old daughter: a flute worth $500, which they tried to pawn off at a shop – twice.
According to the Chula Vista Police Department (CVPD), a woman’s van was stolen on Oct. 25. The vehicle was later recovered, but the woman noticed something was still missing: a brass-colored Yamaha flute belonging to her daughter. The instrument had been left in the backseat.
“I really do love playing. It just means a lot to me, Josephina De LaCruz said of her missing instrument. “It's a part of my life now.”
Following the flute theft, police said the mother went to a pawn shop in the 300 block of Broadway in Chula Vista to see if someone had tried to sell the stolen instrument.
“To know my car was stolen and my daughter's flute was taken – I know it was devastating to her," Josephina's mother told NBC7.
The manager of the shop told the woman an unknown man and a woman did try to sell it on Oct. 26, the day after the van was stolen. The owner refused to buy it because after noticing a bar code sticker had been removed from the flute, he believed it was stolen, police said.
The couple left the shop and was seen driving away in a silver or light colored, four-door compact car. Police described the man as being 30 to 40 years old, with thinning hair and a goatee, wearing a Chargers shirt. The woman, a redhead between 20 and 30 years old, was wearing a black dress at the time of the visit to the pawn shop.
According to investigators, the manager of the pawn shop showed the mother and her daughter images captured on surveillance video of the attempted flute transaction and the girl immediately knew it was her instrument. The middle school student recognized the unique box the flute was in, which the male suspect was carrying.
The man and the woman weren’t the only people who tried to pawn the flute.
On Oct. 28, the owner said a different man came back into his pawn shop attempting to get money for the flute. Once again, the manager did not buy it. The manager described that man as walking with a limp.
For her band pageant Thursday night and her weekend performances with San Diego Youth Symphony she's been using a borrowed flute.
“It’s good and everything but once in a while the screws will come off, " Jospehina said.
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Her mother is worried about the $500 she'll have to pay for the stolen flute they signed out from Chula Vista Middle School.
“I’m hoping they won’t ask me for the money until after the new year. $500 dollars is a lot of money. I’d like to be able to buy stuff for my children."
“Even though they say finders’ keepers don’t keep something that is very valuable to someone's life," Jospehina explained.
Despite her loss, she's got some good news. The Pawn Shop is planning on getting her another flute.
The CVPD is handling the case. The flute remains missing. Anyone who knows anything about the alleged suspects is encouraged to call investigators at (619) 409-3875.
