East 6th St. bar thanks public for help tracking down stolen equipment worth $25K

Stolen equipment recovered from E 6th St. bar

An East Austin bar is thanking the public after it helped track down $25,000 worth of equipment stolen.

AUSTIN, Texas - An East Austin bar is thanking the public after it helped track down $25,000 worth of equipment stolen.

The backstory:

What started as a costly setback quickly turned to a community-driven recovery.

"Mixers, boards, speakers, stands, and obviously a lot, a lot of beer and seltzer," said Alejandro Allen, general manager, Austin Garden at Inn Cahoots.

It was a shocking discovery at the Austin Garden at Inn Cahoots on East 6th Street.

"Three to four individuals broke in with crowbars, things like that. And, pried our fridges open. And pried our equipment closets open, and they took a lot of our audio and video gear," said Allen.

The bar, event space, and hotel was hit just as it was wrapping up an expansion of its outdoor space.

"We're a live music venue first and foremost, so these speakers are the main speakers on stage, the main microphones that artists use every night, mic stands. You know, obviously, we make our money on liquor too, so, these are core components of having fun and doing what we want and that was taken from us," said Allen.

General manager Alejandro Allen says the loss totaled upwards of $25,000.

Earlier this month, the venue turned to social media for help, posting photos and details of the stolen items. Within days a tip came in.

"Somebody who was near a venue, who had just seen our social media post, tipped us off that he had just seen our equipment, and it was very much in a pile in a new venue. That was just opening up, and it was very clearly ours," said Allen.

Allen said the equipment was being used at another venue hosting events.

With the help of the community tip and Austin police, the gear was identified and recovered.

"We ended up getting a great police officer who cared and listened to our story. He ended up actually spending all night on the phone with me, reviewing the footage, and essentially expediting our case to a detective that he knew who works on a special team. And they were able to identify, connect with our information that you can only use because you're connected to it, and basically seize our equipment," said Allen.

Allen says the community also stepped up offering to loan equipment, so the show could continue.

"I don't think in any other major city you could have some speakers going and, within a few days, have them back. So we feel really fortunate that people care enough and are connected enough to like our artists and our stage to want to support us," said Allen.

What's next:

APD says the investigation is ongoing, and no arrests have been made as of Friday, Feb. 20.

Meanwhile, the venue plans to celebrate the recovery of their items back with free live music and drink specials to say thanks to the community for helping them.