Posted on Thu, May. 20, 2004
MIAMI BEACH

4 guitars are stolen from Creed
BY CAROLINA ZAMORA

Someone stole two custom-made guitars worth at least $150,000 used by the band Creed.

The guitars, and two others worth $2,500, were stolen sometime between 3:30 and 4:30 p.m. on May 11 from a truck parked in the driveway of Creed frontman Scott Stapp's residence.

Henry Gutierrez, an employee of Stapp's, told Miami Beach police he was loading some equipment when he went inside the house and left the truck's tailgate doors open with the four guitars in their black cases still inside.

Gutierrez said he got delayed inside with phone calls and did not realize the guitars were missing until about an hour later when he returned to the truck.

The driveway gate is normally closed, but Stapp's housekeeper told police that the gate was left open because laborers were working on the house.

According to police, two of the guitars are Gibsons worth about $1,250 each, while the other two are customized PRS guitars -- one a gold model with ''custom built for Scott Stapp'' written on the neck, the other one black with ''Prototype 4'' printed on the back of the neck and ''Tremonti'' engraved on the lower frets.
Creed, which is made up of frontman Stapp, lead guitarist Mark Tremonti and drummer Scott Phillips, formed in 1995 in Tallahassee, and became a top-selling act with its sophomore release, 1999's Human Clay. The band scored a Grammy in 2001 with the hit song With Arms Wide Open.

Police have asked that anyone with information on the theft call Crimestoppers at 305-471-TIPS.

Source:  CREEDFEED