He didn’t want to face the music.
A tipsy thief stole two mandolins from a New Jersey music store — then returned them days later with a booze-fueled note of regret after the owner launched a social media hunt to find the crook.
The alleged bandit casually dropped off the pilfered instruments at Lark Street Music in Teaneck Friday afternoon — four days after brazenly swiping them from the wall and stuffing them in his coat — with a handwritten apology: “Sorry, I been drunk, Merry Christmas,” the store’s owner shared on Facebook.
The hastily penned note, scribbled on a graph paper, also said, “You are a good man.”
The culprit’s repentant stunt comes after the owner shared wild surveillance footage online of the sloshed man plucking a Gibson F-12 and a Webber Yellowstone from the store wall and shoving each into the inside his winter jacket before sauntering out of the shop Monday afternoon.
The social media post quickly blew up, with the owner later crediting the viral pressure for helping coax the suspect into returning the purloined mandolins.
“Recovered! Thank you all for spreading the clip of the theft of the 2 mandolins,” the store posted on Facebook, with photos of the whacky note and the stringed instruments.
“An hour ago the thief surreptitiously opened the front door and returned them in 2 shopping bags. I ran up to the door and saw him running down the street so summoning all my feet fleetness I took off after him. Not so smart, I lost him, called 911 and they are in pursuit. I feel like I’m in a TV movie.”
It’s unclear if the suspect has been arrested.
The Teaneck Police Department did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
The owner of Lake Street Music could not immediately be reached.
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