Three were arrested in Milwaukee on Wednesday in alleged connection with the disappearance of a $5 million Stradivarius violin that was nabbed last week from a member of the city's Symphony Orchestra.
According To Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney Kent Lovern, concertmaster of the Orchestra Frank Almond's prized and rare instrument was stolen from him after a robber hit him with a stun gun, grabbed the violin and ducked into a getaway car waiting nearby.
Frank Almond was renting out the 300-year-old violin, which is reportedly worth about $5 million. He was assaulted near Wisconsin Lutheran College on Jan. 27, after he'd just wrapped up a performance. Almond didn't sustain any serious injuries from the robbery.
The ditched violin case was later found, but it's still unclear where the instrument itself is located, according to the Associated Press.
Violin curator Stefan Hersh said Almond took special care of the violin, which was made in 1715.
"He had a special case made for it, he kept it highly protected in his car, he never let it out of his sight," Hersh told AP. "As a performer nothing shakes him but after the theft he was highly shaken. I've never known him like that."
Hersh also told the Associated Press that he and Almond were good friends, and that the curator himself helped the concertmaster refurbish the instrument after it was taken out of a bank vault six years ago.
The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra reported that an unidentified citizen offered $100,000 to anyone who could bring the violin back safely.
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