Stolen Tom Petty guitar found in Hollywood pawn shop

The gear was allegedly taken by a private security guard

One of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers’ stolen vintage guitars was found in a Hollywood pawn shop after being sold to the store for $250 (£156).

The band’s valuable instruments were stolen last week from a rehearsal space in Los Angeles, but were recovered yesterday (April 17) by police.

Daryl Washington, who worked as a private security guard at Culver Studios where the band had been practising ahead of their new tour, has been arrested in conjunction with the crime. The stolen items included Petty’s 1967 12-string blonde Rickenbacker 360 and his 1965 Gibson SGTV Junior, as well as a Fender Broadcaster belonging to bassist Ron Blair, and guitars belonging to Scott Thurston and Mike Campbell.

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An SG was found in the pawn shop, leading police to track down 51-year-old Washington, reports Culver City Patch. The CEO of Culver Studios, James C Cella said in a statement:

We’re relieved and extremely pleased that all of Tom Petty’s stolen guitars have been recovered and that a suspect has been arrested. Our security department cooperated fully with the Culver City Police in the effort to solve this crime.

He continued: “Even though the alleged culprit was not an employee of the Culver Studios but worked for an independent contractor, we feel a real sense of responsibility for everything that happens on our lot and we have conveyed our profound apologies to Mr Petty for the distress the incident has caused him.”

Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers’ tour opens in Broomfield, Colorado, tonight (April 18). The European leg of the tour is due to kick off in Dublin on June 7, before two sold-out dates at London’s Royal Albert Hall on June 18 and 20.

The band will also headline the Isle Of Wight Festival alongside Bruce Springsteen and Pearl Jam.

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