DENVER — A Denver band selling merchandise to help pay their bills during the pandemic had their trailer full of inventory stolen this past Sunday, and the community is already stepping up to help.
Magic Beans vocalist and guitarist Scott Hachey says he realized the trailer was gone after returning home Valentine's Day morning from picking up breakfast.
"It really took me a couple of minutes to process and even realize that it was actually happening to us," Hachey said.
A neighbor's surveillance camera captured the theft. It happened shortly before 4:20 a.m. Sunday. Hachey had a lock on the hatch to prevent theft, but the thief managed to break it.
"Like, this guy is out here, in the freezing cold, and he lifts our trailer by hand and drops it onto his suburban and drives away," Hachey said.
The theft is an unnecessary blow after a difficult year. Because of the pandemic, the band had to cancel their 2020 tour.
"We had 60 dates get canceled, all our money," Hachey said. "It was kind of the rug being swept out from under you and trying to grapple with, like, new ways to bring in revenue."
But their supportive fan base has been helping them out by purchasing merchandise, like T-shirts and sweaters. Now, they're going above and beyond again, having raised more than $3,000, as of Tuesday afternoon, on the band's GoFundMe.
"It's totally crazy. Totally crazy. Super humbling. I can't believe we can't believe it," drummer Cody Wales said.
Hachey says they'll overcome this and hopefully get back to performing music again. They already have an album in the works.
"It's called Slice of Life, and it's going to be a slice of life," he said.
Property crime in the Whittier neighborhood, where the theft happened, has increased over the years. According to the city's crime map, there were a combined 121 auto thefts and thefts from motor vehicles in 2020. In 2016, there were 64.
The band filed a report with Denver Police. If you have any information about this case, contact the Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-STOP.