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My horn was stolen from my car this afternoon in Orlando. I put that and my duffel bag with a few days' worth of clothes in my car, and ran back up to the house to grab my computer and call my student and let her know I was on my way. Came back, and both bags were gone.

The horn is a Willson 2900S euphonium, serial W2177. Inside my Protec case was a Denis Wick SM4M gold plated mouthpiece. It was stolen from the Conway area in Orlando, FL. I know Tubenetters are very vigilant on eBay and Craigslist. I'm going to have a hard pressed time searching by myself, with gigs, teaching, and copywork stuffed down my throat.

Report was made, and insurance policies will be looked into.

What really makes me sick is that I have owned this horn for almost 10 years now, and there isn't so much as a scratch on this thing. Being in a gig bag, I'm not optimistic that the offender is going to take care of it as well as I have.

Please help.

Nick

Gail Robertson just sent me a message, saying this post was forwarded to her before I even sent out my email to her! Thanks for the help so far, guys.

This is a post from an old teacher of mine, and a good friend, Robert Pendergast:

"This was the best Willson euphonium I've ever played, and by all accounts Dr. Bowman like it as much or better than his horn. Nick's email is bopeuph at hotmail dot com."

Yes, Dr. Bowman even offered to trade with me for it.

Nick

Hi Nick,

So sorry to read about your axe being stolen. I emailed Gail last night knowing that she lives in the area and has a large email contact list. It wasn't five minutes later that I recv'd her email with the alert. Also read Dr. Pendergast's post on Dave Werden's forum. Sure hope the the horn is recovered and the police catch and arrest the thief or thieves. I'll be sure to keep an eye out for any Willson on Craig's list or ebay.

Thanks a heap, Rick. I was just thinking about how many women made an ultimatum between music (most of which happened when I was primarily a eupher, so essentially, that horn) and them. Guess which one won? So, this feels worse than losing a woman!

Also, although virtually none of my current gigs call for euphonium, I was looking into creating more opportunities to play it, and, of course, I'm extremely impatient in having it back. I don't want another instrument, I want my horn back, although my greatest fear if it's found is that it's dented up. This horn is still in new condition. Like I said, it was exceptional, even for a Willson. I'd be lucky to find another one like it. But, I may have to make an insurance claim. I've already given Vince a heads up at the Tuba Exchange that he might hear from me to purchase another one. Here are the things that are bugging me:

1.) The police bureaucracy is going to take forever. It's going to be at least a few days before a detective even looks at my case, and could be months before they find it. If it's found, it might be held as evidence. If found at a pawn shop, they might make me buy it from them at their shelf price (worst case scenario if it's at a pawn shop). Then I would have to go to court to get her back.

2.) If I end up making a claim, and the horn shows back up, the insurance company said they would expect me to pay that money back. I would be happy to do it, except for one thing...if I already bought the horn, I would no longer have the money! So where would I pull the money from then? Why wouldn't I just have done that in the first place? And I'd be rich, if I could pull money from that place every time I needed it!

So, how long would you guys suggest to wait before I give up hope?

Nick

Rick F wrote:I'll be sure to keep an eye out for any Willson on Craig's list or ebay.

By the way, I'm 99.999999% sure it wasn't taken by anyone who knows what a euphonium is, especially since my bag of clothes was taken along with it. If it shows up, for all we know, it could be called an oboe!

Nick

Sorry to hear about your loss.

BopEuph wrote:1.) The police bureaucracy is going to take forever. It's going to be at least a few days before a detective even looks at my case, and could be months before they find it. If it's found, it might be held as evidence. If found at a pawn shop, they might make me buy it from them at their shelf price (worst case scenario if it's at a pawn shop). Then I would have to go to court to get her back.

I trust that you have already filed an incident report with the police. Make a detailed, comprehensive list of stolen items: horn, gig bag, mouthpieces, accessories (tuner/metronome, music, recorder, ergobrass, lubricants, etc.) to give to the detective when you meet with him/her.

In many jurisdictions, if you can prove ownership, you can opt to bypass the legal system and repurchase misappropriated goods from a pawn shop for the cost of the pawn, i.e., the amount of the loan to the pawnor. Additionally, pawn statues typically provide a mechanism for the owner to recover the cost (including filing and court costs and attorney's fees) through the court system.

That being said, a quick reading of the applicable FL statute (Title XXXIII, Chapter 539) suggests that FL provides a fairly straightforward process for recovering misappropriated goods held by a pawnbroker (see section 15). (Your insurance company should be willing to go to bat for you on this.)

In any event, check the pawn statue in the applicable jurisdiction (municipality or county) so you know your rights if the horn does turn up in a pawn shop.

It may be worth your while to start pulling together the paperwork for writ of replevin, in case the horn does turn up in a pawn shop. Most jurisdictions require a pawnbroker to deliver an item to police custody if served a writ of replevin for that item while the court adjudicates the claim. If the item is determined to have been misappropriated, the property will be returned to the claimant at no cost.

If I end up making a claim, and the horn shows back up, the insurance company said they would expect me to pay that money back. I would be happy to do it, except for one thing...if I already bought the horn, I would no longer have the money! So where would I pull the money from then? Why wouldn't I just have done that in the first place? And I'd be rich, if I could pull money from that place every time I needed it!

Some, but not all, insurance companies will accept the new horn in lieu of a cash repayment. Check with your insurance agent: again, if he/she is worth his/her salt, he/she should be willing to go to bat for you on this.

So, how long would you guys suggest to wait before I give up hope?

AFAIK, all jurisdictions in the US have a holding period for pawned items before it can be sold or otherwise disposed of. The minimum holding period in FL is 30 days, however individual municipalities and counties may establish a longer holding period. Check your local pawn statute for the applicable period.

Unless there is a pressing need to acquire a replacement, I would suggest waiting at least two weeks beyond the holding period.

[Disclaimers: I am not licensed to practice law in FL. See my signature.]

Thanks. I am doing my homework all over. I'm going to look in the close pawn shops on Wednesday, when I'm back in Orlando. I'll ask if anything interesting came in that an musical instrument aficionado might be interested in, that may still be on hold. I know it's going to take forever to see my horn again, if at all, and that worries me.

As for the insurance claim, the local set me up with a legal consultation so I may be able to know how best to make my claim and what to do if the horn shows up, and how to make the claim so they don't try to cut me a check for, say, $2500 to replace my Willson. I've sent everyone in the Orlando area I can think of an email, and I'm probably going to send out to all local musicians on Facebook, as well.

Nick

pgym wrote:It may be worth your while to start pulling together the paperwork for writ of replevin, in case the horn does turn up in a pawn shop. Most jurisdictions require a pawnbroker to deliver an item to police custody if served a writ of replevin for that item while the court adjudicates the claim. If the item is determined to have been misappropriated, the property will be returned to the claimant at no cost.

I found a place to download a generic writ of replevin for the state of FL to be filled out. Is this something i can do myself, or does the clerk of courts need to fill it out?

Nick

If [url=http://www.docstoc.com/docs/10331119/Wr ... ---Florida] is the form you found, it will need to be filled out by the clerk of the court once the court accepts your petition.

You need to prepare and file a complaint seeking a writ containing the following info:

(1) a description of the claimed property*;
(2) a statement that you are the owner of the claimed property or are entitled to possession of it;
(3) a statement that the property is wrongfully detained by the defendant;
(4) a statement that the claimed property has not been taken for a tax, assessment, or fine pursuant to law; and
(5) a statement that the property has not been taken under an execution or attachment against the property of the plaintiff or, if taken, that it exempt.

* Make sure you list the model number correctly. Although it's customary to refer to a silverplated 2900 as a "2900S", if the model number engraved on the bell is "2900TA" and your description lists it as "2900S", that could be grounds for dismissing the action at final judgment.

You probably want to have a lawyer or paralegal (perhaps the legal rep your local set you up with?) at least review your complaint for accuracy and completeness, because the writ may be denied--or, if issued, it can be dismissed prior to final judgment--on procedural grounds if based on incomplete or inaccurate information. (Note that some jurisdictions waive filing fees and court costs for replevin actions, and entitle plaintiffs who receive a positive final judgment to recovery of costs, including reasonable attorney's fees, of pursuing the action.)

Thanks.

Now, how do I know the exact model of my horn? I always considered it a 2900S. I guess I'll be calling DEG and see if they know.

Nick

Another suggestion for where to be looking for it to show up: a consignment auction house, the type that has an auction every week and anyone can bring in their stuff to sell. Over a year ago, someone broke into my tool shed and stole about $1200 of tools, three items. I went around to the local pawn shops then, no results. The police officer said my stuff probably went to Atlanta. Way too late to check it out, I realize that one of those auctions would probably work for selling other peoples' stuff too. There are a couple of them around where my stuff was stolen from, one less than a mile away. The stuff could have been stolen during the day and sold the same night. I don't know what kind of records those places have to keep. The pawn shops told me they have to keep records for the police and all.

I hope you have better luck than I had. With a $1000 deductible on my homeowner's insurance, I got a check for about $200. I still haven't replaced everything.

Yeah, that's already been suggested. I'll have to look up auctions around Orlando when I get home today. If anybody knows where to find a good directory, that would be great.

As for insurance, I have two options: my parents' homeowners, and the people I'm renting from. I just started renting here about two weeks ago, so my address hasn't yet changed. I will probably just compare the two policies, and see which one doesn't screw over the insured as badly. I'm telling the insurance company the MSRP of the instrument, and hoping that once deductibles and depreciation is factored in, I can still buy that replacement from Vince at the Tuba Exchange. He sold me a really great horn and was great to work with, it makes sense to go through him again. He already has a heads up.

Nick

You can input your zip code and a radius at [url=http://www.auctionzip.com/fl.html]auctionzip.com[/l] for a list (not comprehensive) of auction houses in your area.