MASON CITY – A man and a woman allegedly committed a crime of opportunity when they grabbed an expensive musical instrument from a student who wasn’t looking and then tried to sell it to a music store.
Mason City police tell NIT that the incident took place at a bus stop near 1st Street and Pierce Avenue. A student set a saxophone valued at nearly $1,500 down on the sidewalk near bus stop. Police say “it was a windy, cold day so the kids stood around the corner, behind a building to get out of wind. That apparently is when someone came by and snatched the sax from sidewalk.”
After the theft, the stolen sax was presented for sale at a local music store by 69-year-old Keith Riser and 28-year-old Donyale Jones. Employees at “the music store looked at the sax, realized it was stolen, and called police.”
After an investigation, Jones and Riser were arrested on charges of felony second-degree theft and taken to jail.