Man Arrested For Rare Guitar Theft

A Chicago man has been arrested and charged with the theft of several items at O'Hare Airport over the past four days, including a rare Indian guitar.

Anthony Hargrove, 59, faces four counts of felony theft in connection to two separate incidents at the airport.

Canadian musician Harry Manx reported his checked luggage, a case containing a rare Indian Mohan Veena guitar, missing from the Terminal 2 baggage claim on Friday morning. Manx told police he saw the case, turned away for a moment, and then it was gone.

Police say surveillance video captured Hargrove approaching the baggage claim belt, grabbing the guitar case, and walking quickly toward the CTA train exit.

Undercover officers staked out the baggage claim area over the next few days anticipating the thief would return.

Police say one of the officers noticed Hargrove, who matched their suspect's description, taking three bags that did not belong to him on Monday afternoon.

Hargrove was taken into custody and police say they were eventually able to recover the rare guitar.

Manx posted a celebratory status on Facebook Tuesday afternoon announcing to fans that his Mohan Veena was found and in police possession.

Manx played his set Friday night in Wisconsin without the guitar, which was giving to him by his Grammy Award-winning teacher, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, the inventor of the guitar.

“There’s no way for me to express the gratitude I have to everyone for helping out, but I would like to say that the generous outpouring of support has uplifted my spirits and renewed my faith in the kindness of strangers,” Manx posted on Facebook.

He plans to return to Chicago next Tuesday to retrieve the guitar.

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