Store Owners Recover Stolen Records, Suspected Thief Caught On Camera In Owasso

Two record store owners are frustrated with a man stealing several dozen records, worth hundreds of dollars and it was all caught on video.

The stores did get their records back when the man tried to sell them at another store.

The security footage shows a man walking into Screaming Earth Records in Owasso at 86th Street North and 129th East Avenue and taking several records from their sale bin.

The store has only been open for a month, so the owners never expected to get hit this soon.

“It’s horrible, especially in our case,” said Ben Sloma, the Co-Owner of Screaming Earth Records. “We’re really new, so we’re limited on what we have. Any loss of stock for us is devastating, it’s potential income.”

The owner of Oil Capital Vinyl says after the suspect hit Screaming Earth, he drove to Oil Capital Vinyl near 21st and Memorial and stole a few dozen records from them.

“Guy came in, front door, I said hey, how are you doing, he ignored me, he just sent right straight over to one of the bins,” said Daniel Van Durmen, the Owner of Oil Capital Vinyl. “Couple seconds later, he was running out the door with a stack of records.”

Van Durmen jumped into action by calling other stores to let them know what happened.

“We’re a small community, there are only four used record stores in town, and we all know each other,” said Van Durmen. “We all know what each other’s price stickers and stuff look like. As soon as the guys left the store, I called all the other record stores in town and said ‘Hey, keep a lookout for these guys.’”

The suspected thief tried to sell the records at Josey’s Records, where employees recognized the price tags from the other stores.

The employees confiscated the records and gave them back to the stores they belonged to.

“There are only a few places to sell used records, so chances are, stuff shows up,” said John Gabriel, the Manager of Josey’s Records. “This one still had price tags on it, the guy had a story about it being from his uncle, or something, I don’t think so.”

Both owners are grateful to get the stolen records back and hope police will catch the man who stole them.

“It hurts business, it hurts the community,” said Sloma. “We’re just starting out but it doesn’t really matter if you’ve been established or you’re new. Any loss of inventory, any loss of revenue, for any small, locally owned business is devastating.”