Burglar Breaks Into Safe of Grammy-Winning Hollywood Hills Songwriter/Producer

Police are investigating the theft of thousands of dollars worth of valuables, including gold coins, from a safe at the Hollywood Hills home of Grammy Award-winning songwriter and producer Toby Gad.

About $50,000 to $55,000 worth of property was taken, according to Los Angeles Police Department Detective Raymond Conboy.

The burglary at the house in the 3500 block of Wonder View Drive, which was under renovation, apparently occurred on Monday afternoon, but was not discovered until about 7:30 p.m., when Gad’s wife saw the safe.

“My wife came in and looked at the safe, and it was open and broken,” Gad told ABC7. “Let’s hope we find the people who did that.”

His wife, Li, said she “went to the safe, and all of our papers, passports, everything from the safe was lying on the floor. It was completely open. I ... freaked out.”

Toby Gad said he had been collecting gold coins since he was a child.

“It’s gold that I have collected since I was 12 years old,” he told Channel 7. “My granddad gave me my first gold coin, and then my dad bought me one, and then whenever I made some money I bought another gold coin. So in the end it was 40 ounces of gold. And ... every gold coin told a story to me.”

Gad has worked with such artists as Madonna, John Legend, Miley Cyrus and the Dixie Chicks.

• City News Service