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Musician angry after equipment stolen out of his truck after casino gig

Joe Della Savia is offering a reward for the safe return of his pedal board with guitar pedals and amplifier after it was stolen out of his truck around midnight

A local musician says he had just finished a gig at the casino late Saturday when much of his gear was stolen out of his pickup truck.

Joe Della Savia leads Angry Joe and the Growlers, a band that plays across the Sault and area.

"We play Searchmont, the Water Tower Inn, some of the small bars in town, private events," said Della Savia by phone on Sunday. 

"We've been at Rotary Fest, play for the city and we play for the senior dances,"

The band played Gateway Casinos Sault Ste. Marie from 8 to 11 p.m. on Saturday and soon afterwards Della Savia began the process of packing his gear into his pickup truck.

"I had loaded most of my stuff into the cab and then I had three or four items I had to put in the box and unfortunately, from the winter time, the locks aren't working properly because they got corroded," he said.

Della Savia stepped back into the casino for about 15 minutes and in that time, some of the items in the bed of his truck had been removed.

"I went home, was unloading my stuff. and noticed there's some stuff missing here. So I texted the guys and asked if anybody happened to grab my stuff, and they're like, 'nope,'" Della Savia said.

Missing from the bed of his truck was a custom-made pedal board with six guitar pedals wired into it and a Genz-Benz guitar amplifier.

"You're looking at probably a thousand bucks for that amp and those pedals range anywhere from $150 to $400 a piece," Della Savia said.

Details of the theft and photos of the gear that was stolen were posted on a local Facebook group.

"I'm pissed," said Della Savia in the Facebook post.

His guitar and other pieces of gear that were in the locked cab of the truck were not touched.

"I've had that guitar for 25 years now," Della Savia said.

The theft was reported to police and that casino staff was able to capture the alleged thieves in video footage.

"My truck happened to be with their walking path and they checked my truck and opened up the back and grabbed a few items and they have it all on video," said Della Savia of the casino footage.

Della Savia told SooToday he is offering a $300 reward each for the return of his pedal board with pedals or the amplifier.

The pedals stolen include: a Carl Martin Dual Injection, TC Helicon, Boss Super Chorus CH-1, Boss Digital Delay DD-3T, Boss Blues Driver BD-2 and a Donner DT-1 tuning pedal.

Della Savia said he custom made the pedal board and case about 20 years ago.



Kenneth Armstrong

About the Author: Kenneth Armstrong

Kenneth Armstrong is a news reporter and photojournalist who regularly covers municipal government, business and politics and photographs events, sports and features.
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