By Chris Yow
Editor
TRUSSVILLE — Stewart Brockman, the Hewitt-Trussville senior whose trombone was stolen Aug. 27, has been reunited with his prized possession after the work of School Resource Officers and Trussville police helped locate the missing instrument.
The Jupiter 1240rt bass trombone was taken from the band room at Hewitt-Trussville High School by an individual and sold to a local pawn shop according to Stewart’s father Dave.
Davie Brockman said Stewart originally thought it was hidden from him by bandmates as a practical joke, but when the instrument didn’t turn up on that Friday morning, he went to the band director and then the School Resource Officers to ask them to look at any surveillance tape.
“When they looked at the tapes, that’s when they saw a person come out with the case,” Dave Brockman said. “Most trombones come with a rectangular, prism shape case with a handle on top, this one was kind of a backpack style, so right away we knew it was his.”
The police department worked to help the family recover the instrument by finding it in a database used by pawn shops to recover stolen items.
Before the recovery, a crowd-funding website was used to raise funds to purchase another trombone for Stewart who hopes to be a music major at the Univ. of Alabama next fall. The fund raised more than $2,400 before the trombone was recovered. Stewart’s mother Rachel Brockman stated on Facebook steps are being taken to refund the money to donors, but the family was so thankful and appreciative of those who gave.
“It was just kind of amazing,” Dave Brockman said. “Parents of kids who go to Hewitt-Trussville were so giving, and even people I don’t think ever went to Trussville who gave. One person who said he marched in the 1980s and was a band director in Georgia knew about it, and we don’t know how they found out about it. It was really amazing.”
When the trombone was recovered, Dave Brockman brought the instrument to band practice, but hid it on his back so Stewart couldn’t see it from a distance.
“Once I got closer to the color guard someone whispered ‘Is that Stewart’s trombone?’ People were seeing it as we were approaching, and Stewart came over and they announced it on the microphone for all the band to see. There were cheers from the band.”
The instrument was still in the working condition it was when it was taken.
Police have turned over evident to the Jefferson County District Attorney’s office, but a lack of physical evidence thus far has slowed the warrant process, according to Dave Brockman, but he said the authorities believe new evidence with the pawn shop may speed up the process.
“We really appreciate everyone who was involved in helping get his trombone back. It’s very important to him,” Dave Brockman said.