Police: Men Tried to Sell Stolen Musical Equipment at Guitar Center

Springfield Police say two Newark men tried to sell over $10,000 worth of musical equipment stolen from churches to a branch of the chain store where the equipment was originally purchased.

On Wednesday, May 11, two men tried to sell keyboards, synthesizers, mixing boards and other musical equipment to on Route 22 in Springfield. During the sale, store employees checked the model and serial numbers of the items, which they routinely do when the stores buy used music equipment or instruments. 

The Guitar Center employees found that one item had been recently sold to a church in Newark.  The employee contacted the church and learned it had recently been burglarized, and that several items were stolen including the keyboard the store had inquired about.

The employees called police and pretended to write up sales documents to stall the suspects until the police arrived.

When Springfield police officers Erik Knudsen and Luis Brito entered the store, one of the men trying to sell the musical equipment, William Anderson, 33, of Newark, ran out of the story and fled across the highway outside. The other man, William Anderson, 33, of Newark, also ran onto 22, heading westbound while crossing lanes of 22 East.

Springfield Patrolman Frank Cunha and Sergeant Joseph Cieri arrested Anderson.
 Spearman ran into the lot of the Nissan World car dealership on Route 22 West. He jumped onto and damaged a car while trying to scale a fence. After he and Officer Knudsen fell into a chain-linked fence, Spearman hid inside of a parked van, where police found him and arrested him. Officer Knudsen received cuts on his arms but did not require hospitalization.

The men were charged with receiving stolen property, conspiracy to possess stolen property and resisting arrest. Spearman was charged with two counts of criminal mischief for damaging a fence and a motor vehicle and resisting arrest by force.

Springfield Police detectives were able to identify the nine items the men were trying to sell as having been stolen from two Newark churches in burglaries in early May. Springfield Police detectives are working with detectives from the Newark Police Department who are in the process of charging the suspects with the burglaries.