Vance Mizzi had heard stories like this before: following a show, someone steals musician’s equipment; musician, distraught, calls police; police come and take report. Unfortunately, most of the stories he had heard had the same ending too: musician never sees stuff again.
But Mizzi now has a chance to tell a different story. His customized musical equipment was stolen from his garage last month. But thanks to some quick detective work from the Hermosa Beach Police Department and the watchful eyes of his neighbors, he got his stuff back, safe and sound.
The experience, Mizzi said, reaffirmed the importance of the look-out-for-one-another attitude he finds in Hermosa Beach.
“They were just over the moon that they got the guy and closed the case,” Mizzi said. “These guys were as excited to give me back the stuff as I was to get it.”
The theft occurred Nov. 5. Mizzi and his band the Mothers of Pearl had recently played “Rockin for a Reason,” a charity gig at Saint Rocke. After a sellout show that raised $11,450 for Teen Cancer America, Mizzi had stashed his equipment in the garage of his North Hermosa home.
Mizzi typically keeps his equipment at a studio in the San Fernando Valley, and on the day of the theft was planning to drive it back. But when he came home that afternoon, it was gone.
Missing was a set of large amplifiers, and a guitar pedal board that he built himself.
Mizzi bucks many of the stereotypes of the Dionysian rock-and-roller: he does not drink, gets to bed early, and holds down a day job as a realtor. His typically careful behavior made the theft of the equipment all the more painful.
“I’ve never lost my wallet, let alone see everything that I’ve worked for disappear,” Mizzi said.
Mizzi called the police, who arrived so quickly that it took him by surprise. They had been in the area, Mizzi said, because a neighbor had recently called, saying that they had seen someone loading musical equipment into a truck, and that it had looked suspicious.
The importance of his neighbors’ efforts would become clearer over the ensuing days. In a small-town happenstance straight out of Norman Rockwell, Mizzi was chatting outside his Kiwanis Hall polling place on Election Day, when he learned that news of the theft had spread throughout the neighborhood.
Some of Mizzi’s neighbors had gotten descriptions of the thief and the van he drove. One got a partial license plate number. Over the next few days, both Mizzi and detectives spoke to more of them, discovering that some had security cameras trained on the area in front of the garage. Eventually, they found a neighbor whose camera recorded the entire license plate.
HBPD Detective Eric Cahalan, the lead officer on the case, said that the observant neighbors were the difference between recovering the equipment and not.
“In this case we were fortunate to have the citizens paying attention. If that property had been stolen with no leads, it’s almost zero chance of getting it back,” Cahalan said. “It’s so important these days. That’s why we let our residents know: Pay attention, it’s okay to call.”
Mizzi was heartened by the progress on the case, but worried that his gear would be lost even if a suspect was found. Although musicians commonly insure their guitars, it is rare to do so with amplifiers and equipment, he said, in part because of their bulk makes it difficult to walk away with them. And even if the missing items had been insured, Mizzi had built the setup specifically for his own use, and cash value would hardly have been adequate compensation for the loss.
“It was irreplaceable, one-of-a-kind stuff, boutique pedals and everything,” he said. “Everything about the rig was built for me, by me. I took it to heart, I didn’t know what I was going to do.”
But even as he worried about the fate of his equipment, he was heartened by outreach from the local music community. A fellow realtor-musician offered to loan him a vintage Fender Stratocaster. And Tracii Guns, lead guitarist for L.A. Guns, said Mizzi could borrow anything he needed.
Hermosa Beach police arrested Bryan Broaster a 24-year-old Los Angeles-resident, at his home on Nov. 18. After interrogating Broaster, officers learned that the equipment was at a residence in Inglewood. On arriving, they quickly found the missing goods.
Cahalan said recovering property without a serial number is usually very difficult. But here, the unique nature of Mizzi’s equipment may have worked to his benefit, because it delayed a sale of the stolen goods.
“It was difficult for the suspect to move that kind of property. It wasn’t a laptop, it wasn’t a cell phone, it wasn’t cash,” Cahalan said. “I think that was the case here. He was sitting it on it. He didn’t have a buyer.”
Mizzi was leaving the opening of Shade Redondo Beach that night when, about 10 p.m., he got a call from Cahalan, telling him that his equipment had been recovered. Mizzi rushed down to the station, elated. With his equipment back, Mizzi is planning another show at Saint Rocke for sometime in January. High on the list of invitees will be HBPD officers.
“It was about $7,000 worth of equipment. In grand scheme of things, that’s a small amount for them to be involved with,” Mizzi said. “Most police departments would have just slapped me on the back, told me to suck it up, and get new stuff.”
