Music

Saint Alvia gear thief caught, returns most of their stolen equipment

by Nicole Villeneuve

On their website this morning, Hamilton band Saint Alvia ecstatically shared the news that the thief who robbed them of upwards of $30,000 in gear a week ago had been caught and that most of their stolen gear had been returned.

Vocalist Ben Rispin shares how he initially found out the news:

“Holy Fuck we Caught them!!!

“Mother Fucker Admitted to the crime!” is just part of a text I received last night from Kyle Bishop ( Eat Me (Suck City), Grade) at around 4pm. Shortly after, a parade of celebratory texts flooded my phone as the news spread amongst us. This has been a long week of hard work for everyone in Saint Alvia, Eat Me ( Suck City) and June & July as most of you know. For those who don’t, our shared rehearsal studio was broken into and we had $30 000 in gear stolen.

All the badgering, canvasing,faxing, sharing, emailing, interviews,tweeting, blogging and word of mouth paid off and it’s all thanks to you guys. You will be happy to know that the thief who stole our gear has admitted to the crime and we have recovered most of our stuff.

We will share the full story in the weeks to come but for obvious reasons we can’t divulge everything at the moment. Thank you ALL so much. You have no idea how much we all needed this win. I know I speak for everyone in Saint Alvia, Eat Me (Suck City), and June & July that words cannot express our gratitude.”

Sincerely, Ben Rispin
Saint Alvia

More info can be read in the official Hamilton Police Service release here.

It’s hopeful news for bands who struggle with gear theft, including Vancouver’s Said the Whale, who had all of their gear stolen while on tour through California earlier this week.