Features
Wristband Thefts Not Peachy
The Scranton, Pa., Times-Tribune reports that David Stone of Ocala, Fla., and Kiel Sheppard of New Port Richey, Fla., created a distraction at a VIP registration table at a nearby Hampton Inn Aug. 11, the evening before the festival opening.
A Live Nation employee responded and saw someone with a backpack enter an employees-only area with a backpack and, once spotted, run. Later, it was discovered a packet of roughly 100 pre-numbered festival credentials was missing.
Miguel Vergara of Miami Springs, Fla., was arrested the next day, along with Stone and Sheppard, in the theft. Police investigating another bracelet theft were informed three suspicious men were in the festival’s backstage area, according to the Times-Tribune. That employee took photos and those reportedly matched the three men from the Hamptons Inn theft. Officers stopped the suspects leaving the festival grounds, and saw Kiel drop a concert pass on the ground.
Searches of Kiel’s pockets and the car turned up additional stolen wristbands and camping passes. Yet another theft investigation of $50,000 in stolen passes brought the total to $150,000. The men were held on $100,000 bond and were to appear for preliminary hearings Aug. 17.