Reward offered for info on Gibson’s Music burglary

A popular downtown Corbin business proved a favorite target for thieves again over the weekend.
Police say that at about 1:15 a.m. Saturday, thieves tossed a cinder block through the front door window of Gibson’s Music, dashed in and stole two custom-made Gibson Les Paul guitars valued at between $8,500 and $9,000.
Owners of the Main Street store, which specializes in high-end musical instruments and sound equipment, are no strangers to crime. Last June, thieves pulled a similar stunt, but were later captured by police.
Gibson’s Music owner Betty Comer said despite beefing up her stores security system, crimes against her store have gotten out of hand … and she’s tired of it.
“I’m offering a reward this time,” Comer said Monday. “Anyone that has information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who broke into Gibson’s Music will get $500 cash.”
Corbin Police Capt. Tim Helton is investigating the burglary and theft, but said he has no suspects so far. Surveillance video footage from the store is being reviewed for possible leads.
“No arrests have been made, but there are some leads in the case,” Helton said. “We have no suspects at this time.”
Comer said she thinks the thieves knew exactly what they wanted to take.
“I know they had been in here scoping the place out, probably,” she said. “We are so nice to everybody, we probably got them down and let them play them.”
“Some people are awful. If they don’t have the money to buy something, they’ll just take it,” she added. “I was just so tore up over this. I walk in here and there’s all this mess of glass on the floor, it was awful. We spotted those guitars missing right off. That’s all they had time to get.”
Comer said the broken glass cost $525 to replace.
Last year, two juveniles broke into the store by tossing a brick through the window and stole three Gibson Epiphone guitars valued at about $3,000. Police arrested the pair and recovered all three guitars. The juveniles are currently paying restitution to Comer for the crime.
Comer said her business is a popular target for thieves because she’s the only store in town with a wide range of guitars.
“The ones they took this time were top of the line,” she said. “Every time I’ve been broken into it was to steal a guitar. It makes you want to go out of the guitar business and just stick to pianos. I might do it. I’m thinking about it.”