Rockin’ Holiday gets ripped off — valuable custom light and sound systems stolen
There’s nothing rockin’ about the case of vandalism and theft that occurred over the weekend in downtown Modesto.
Thieves made off with an estimated $12,000 in equipment used to operate the Rockin’ Holiday tree’s light show on Tenth Street Plaza, police said. And it was no simple cut and run, either.
The crooks first cut a lock to get into the enclosed area where the equipment was kept, then cut additional locks that secured the 3-by-2-by-2-foot control equipment box, Police Department spokeswoman Sharon Bear said. The roughly 100-pound box is too big to fit through the enclosure door, she said, so must have been lifted over the 6-foot-tall fence to be carted off.
The theft occurred sometime between early Saturday and Monday afternoon, she said. The stolen equipment, Bear said, includes an HP laptop that says “Laser Voodoo” on the home screen, a public-address sound system, a digital light controller and three hard drives.
Laser Voodoo owner Brian Friend, who discovered the theft Monday, said he doubts the theft was an impromptu crime of opportunity. He believes those who stole the equipment must have cased out the Rockin’ Holiday scene on the plaza and knew what they were getting.
The equipment was a collaboration between his Laser Voodoo company and Chris Murphy of Sierra Pacific Warehouse Group and ModestoView. And the theft cuts deeper than the value of the hardware. Much of it was custom-made, Friend said, and he did his own research to create thousands of hours of programming.
“I did back it up as much as I could,” he said of the light-show programming, “but it’s still going to take day and night to get it back up before Thursday’s Rockin’ Holiday.”
And the show definitely will go on, with backup equipment, Murphy said. The last three nights of the Rockin’ Holiday attraction, which includes the tree light show, snow, Santa and live music, are Thursday through Saturday, 6-9 p.m.
Rockin’ Holiday couldn’t have happened without a great amount of teamwork and the support of merchants in the area, Murphy said. He said he is disheartened that “when you basically build a program to do something cool for the community, something that’s free, that someone will find it something they want to tear apart.”
Security camera footage exists of the crime, but it’s not yet been viewed, Bear and Friend said Tuesday. Anyone who witnessed the crime or has information about it is urged to call the Police Department at 209-572-9500 or Stanislaus Area Crime Stoppers at 209-521-4636. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward. Tips also can be submitted via www.stancrimetips.org.
Murphy said he and others who put on Rockin’ Holiday figured the security around Tenth Street Plaza at night was sufficient to deter the theft of the equipment.
“This is a giant, job-site utility box” that was taken, he said. “It’s not like we left it in a paper bag. Now we know that even with our efforts to keep everything secure, we have to up our game and develop something more secure for future years.”