Sorry I was drunk! NJ thief sobers up and returns loot with handwritten apology

🎸 A drunken thief stole two valuable mandolins from a Teaneck music store just days before Christmas, casually pocketing them on surveillance video.

📹 The theft sparked a police investigation and viral attention after the store owner shared footage and details on Facebook.

✉️ In a holiday twist, the instruments were returned with a handwritten apology — but it’s unclear if the suspect was arrested.

TEANECK — A drunken thief who brazenly stole two mandolins off the wall of a music store in North Jersey a few days before Christmas returned them to the shop with a written apology.

Drunken theft caught on camera at Teaneck music store

On Monday, December 22, the owner of Lark Street Music in Teaneck reported the theft and posted surveillance footage on the shop’s Facebook page, which captured an unidentified male wearing a long winter coat, a baseball hat, and glasses, as he casually placed two mandolins inside the side pockets of his jacket, then left the store.

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“How to steal 2 mandolins at the same time! Be on the lookout for this criminal and the Gibson F-12 #A2985 and a Weber Yellowstone #9360302. This thief has a Montenegrin accent,” the owner wrote on the social media page.

Police investigation launched after surveillance video spreads online

Detectives immediately launched an investigation, urging anyone with information about this case to contact the Teaneck Police Department.

A Christmas twist as stolen mandolins are returned with an apology

Then, in an odd twist of events, the so-called Grinch had a change of heart. Just like the green monster returned the stolen gifts to The Whos in Whoville on Christmas morning in Dr. Seuss’ “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” this guy decided to “face the music” and return the stolen mandolins to Lark Street Music the day after Christmas with a handwritten apology.

The note, written in red ink in caps on a piece of graph paper, read, “SORRY, I BEEN DRUNK, MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Then underneath that, also in red ink, read “You are good man.”

“Recovered! Thank you all for spreading the clip of the theft of the 2 mandolins. An hour ago the thief surreptitiously opened the front door and returned them in 2 shopping bags. I ran up to the door and saw him running down the street so summoning all my feet fleetness I took off after him. Not so smart, I lost him, called 911, and they are in pursuit. Your re-posts and pressure definitely made him realize the walls were closing in. Thank you all!!! I feel like I’m in a TV movie,” the owner wrote on Facebook.

It's not clear if the man has been arrested.

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