Alleged thieves caught on Bandland CCTV with three people accused of stealing more than $2000 worth of gear in two days

A trio of alleged thieves brazenly made off with more than $2000 in music gear from a popular Toowoomba store. WATCH THE CCTV FOOTAGE.

An owner of a popular Toowoomba music store has called out three alleged thieves after their brazen acts were caught on camera.

Bandland owner Steve Eastaugh said staff were alerted that something was amiss when on Friday August 26 a customer remarked on a dinged guitar that Mr Eastaugh said wasn’t dinged the day before.

“We were trying to figure out what happened when we looked at the footage, and that’s when we saw these three people behind glass cabinets,” he said.

The footage, shared with The Chronicle, allegedly shows the group of three on the previous day stashing a number of items in their pants and under their clothes, including a $1349 steel body resonator ukulele, a $600 American-made banjo ukulele and a box of harmonicas.

Three people were caught on camera allegedly pilfering musical gear from Toowoomba store Bandland.

“They trotted out, right past staff, with a couple of grands worth of stuff,” he said.

With the heist taking place around 4.30pm, Mr Eastaugh said he quickly called around the city’s pawn shops and found that the trio had allegedly sold the goods at Cash Converters.

After recovering the footage of the alleged instrument pilfering Mr Eastaugh took the footage to the owners of nearby pawn store The Cash Shop.

Three people were caught on camera allegedly pilfering musical gear from Toowoomba store Bandland.

Mr Eastaugh said the trio then entered the store on the Friday, the day after allegedly making off with more than $2000 worth of gear, before they were confronted and left the store.

“I have never seen anything that brazen and that much all in one hit, only to then come back in the next day,” he said.

“We’re all pretty switched onto it now, we are taking security much more seriously.”

The following day Pennywise called back that they had received similar goods earlier in the week, which prompted Mr Eastaugh to further analyse his security footage which found the store had been allegedly hit by the same group on Wednesday, August 24.

Bandland owner Steve Eastaugh. Picture: Nev Madsen.

Mr Eastaugh said all items had been recovered and returned.

A Queensland Police spokesman confirmed that two people have been charged in relation to stealing offences that occurred at a Russell Street store on August 24 and 25.

A 25-year-old South Toowoomba woman has been charged with two counts each of stealing and fraud and will appear before Toowoomba Magistrates Court on September 23, while a 20-year-old South Toowoomba man has been charged with two counts each of stealing and fraud and will appear before Toowoomba Magistrates Court on September 6.

Inquiries into the incident are continuing. Report crime information anonymously via Crime Stoppers. Call 1800 333 000 or report online at www.crimestoppersqld.com.au.