A Symphony Of Stealing
In 1980, I was working in a music store as a piano and organ salesman. One day, the music director for the college came in looking to buy a seven-foot grand piano; the one they had had been stolen.
Yes, you read that right. A seven-foot grand piano, weighing about 900 to 1000 pounds, was stolen. It was in the middle of the day, with students and staff everywhere.
Pianos in institutional settings like a college may need to be moved from room to room to performance hall, so they sit on what’s called a grand dolly — a three-legged frame with small three-wheeled platforms that the legs sit in — allowing it to be easily moved.
How did they do it? They backed a truck into the loading dock, some guys in identical jumpsuits walked into the music department, said, “We’re taking it to be serviced,” and rolled the piano out to the freight elevator and onto the truck. Away it went, never to be seen again.
They tried to take the nine-foot, but it wouldn’t fit in the elevator.