St. Louis Thieves Targeting Tour Buses

Thieves in St. Louis who know how to spot vans that might have gear inside them are targeting bands in the city, police told the Post-Dispatch.

The latest touring victim was bluegrass band Love Canon, which stopped for lunch Sept. 1 in the city for about an hour and returned to find its van broken into and missing about $20,000 worth of equipment including laptops, cables, backpacks and a guitar.

Tour manager Colin Perkinson told the paper that about $20,000 in equipment disappeared although the bass, banjo, mandolin and guitars weren’t taken and Love Canon will continue its tour. However, the city might be “scratched off the list of places to play because of how aggressively bands are being targeted by thieves.”