'They Violated Our Kids': Marching Band Equipment Stolen
By Jeff Todd
PARKER, Colo. (CBS4) - Just one day after it won the Denver Metro area championships, someone broke into the Legend High School marching band's storage containers and took vital equipment.
"I was probably the most disappointed when they showed me the video and I could actually see the suspects involved," said Orlando Otis, the Legend High School Band Director.
Parker police are hoping someone will recognize the suspects or the white van allegedly used in the heist. Surveillance video shows a white vehicle arriving around 2:30 in the morning and leaving just after 3 a.m.
"I saw them with their wire cutters cut the bolts and that's when I think it really hit me that someone came and violated our kids," Otis said.
Generators, expensive special extension cords and special orbs used in the band's performance were taken.
In total, everything was worth a few thousand dollars.
"They're very specialized balls, they glow in the dark and they have special fabric covers. They're very expensive. I was really disappointed that somebody came and took those because that's something our kids fundraise and work really hard to make sure they got," Otis said.
He first heard about the theft after school started. By the time he could tell the whole band most of the students already knew.
"They all understood we have a job to do, we came out and had band rehearsal and decided to let everything take it's course," Otis said.
The state championship band competition is October 28 and 29. The band is hoping the suspects can get caught and return the stolen equipment by then.
"It's very serious because this is something that impacts our entire community, the school, the kids who have worked hard. Someone pretty much came and put a road block in the way," Otis said.
Jeff Todd joined the CBS4 team in 2011 covering the Western Slope in the Mountain Newsroom. Since 2015 he's been working across the Front Range in the Denver Headquarters. Follow him on Twitter @CBS4Jeff.
