Twist Street

4 notes

Whittier High School is the latest school to be hit by tuba thieves. The school at 12417 E. Philadelphia St. lost four King-brand sousaphones-–marching-band tubas-–to burglars who broke in over the weekend, police said. “The only thing that was taken were the tubas,” said Officer Bradley White, a spokesman for the Whittier Police Department. Tuba thieves have hit several Southland high schools in the last year. South Gate, Huntington Park, Fremont, Centennial (Compton), Jordan, Bell and Manhattan Beach high schools each have had several tubas stolen. Instructors and musicians alike say the break-ins have to do with the enormous popularity of banda music-–Mexican dance music using marching band instruments, in which tubas play a central role. The demand for expensive tubas has also been fueled by an unprecedented wave of popularity of the tuba in Mexican pop music locally.