Authorities are searching for the thieves who stole a U-Haul truck containing thousands of dollars worth of props and equipment belonging to a youth dance group in Riverside.
Young dancers from Define Dance Space traveled to downtown Los Angeles on April 10 for a competition. They arrived the night before to settle in and compete the next day.
The team was staying at a Holiday Inn Express and Suites. Hours before they were set to take the stage, coaches Megan Jenkins and Raven Gantt learned that all the props they had brought for the performance were stolen.
“We have a dedicated family that drives our prop truck each weekend that would go out to our competition,” Gantt explained.
Gantt said the U-Haul truck couldn’t fit inside the hotel’s parking garage, so the driver was instructed to park on the street instead.
When awoke the next morning, the truck was gone. At first, they thought it was towed, but surveillance video from hotel staff confirmed two suspects had broken into the truck before driving off with it, Gantt said.
They escaped with around $15,000 worth of items belonging to the dance team. Some stolen props included a custom set of welded bleachers, chairs, accessories and more.
“These props are not just physical items; they represent countless hours of hard work, creativity, and dedication from our young performers and their coaches,” the team wrote on a GoFundMe page. “They also represent years of love, dedication, and support from a large dance family who have shared seasons of life with us. “
Without the props, the young dancers were left scrambling to relearn routines minutes before taking the stage. Their coaches said despite how hard they had worked throughout the year, having the sudden theft of their props throw everyone off was heartbreaking.
“You have a visceral reaction when they’re missing,” Jenkins said. “I walked into the studio yesterday and it was just this sense of real loss.”
The company, which coaches dancers from 4-18 years old, has raised over $11,000 through a GoFundMe page to help replace their losses.
They’re hoping things can get back to normal as quickly as possible so that their dedicated dancers can get back to focusing on the next round of competitions.
“This affects business obviously, but it affects [the dancers] and they deserve to have this season,” Jenkins said. “They deserve to have this finished in the way it was envisioned in the first place.”
A stolen vehicle report was filed with the Los Angeles Police Department as the suspects remain at large. The GoFundMe page to support the Define Space dancers can be found here.
Anyone with information on the suspects or the theft can call LAPD at 1-877-527-3247.
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