Three men arrested in connection with Lamb Of God guitar theft

Earlier this month, Lamb Of God had guitars stolen while they were in Phoenix for a show at the city’s Ak-Chin Pavilion.

Willie Adler’s Warbird guitar and John Campbell’s Jay Ceerva hand-painted bass were taken from the venue on May 2, with Adler posting an angry message about the incident soon after.

It later emerged that the Warbird appeared for sale on OfferUp.com, with a fan subsequently trying unsuccessfully to purchase the stolen instrument to give it back to the band.

It's now emerged that a third instrument was also taken, with the Phoenix Police Department's Sgt. Vince Lewis giving an update on the case.

He says via the Phoenix New Times: “Someone entered the trailer where musical equipment belonging to a band was being held and removed three unique and valuable guitars.

“Phoenix Police detectives located one of the guitars for sale on an online app. Another suspect attempted to pawn one of the guitars, but was turned away.

“Through the course of the investigation, detectives identified and located three suspects."

They’ve been named as Michael Blakeslee, 51, William Widener, 62, and Justin Petersen, 34. They’ve now been charged on suspicion of theft and trafficking in stolen property.

However, the three guitars have yet to be recovered, according to police.

Lamb Of God are currently on tour with Slayer, Amon Amarth and Cannibal Corpse.

Last month, Lamb Of God guitarist Mark Morton said he and the band were excited about the material they are working on for the follow-up to 2015’s VII: Sturm und Drang.

ATTENTION ALL...and particularly in the Phoenix area. My main beloved Warbird, along with @jayceerva one of kind hand painted bass; were stolen early Thursday morning from @akchin.pavilion in Phoenix. The pieces of shit that did this are suspected to be employed by @akchin.pavilion. local hands that were working Wednesday, our tour production day. Apparently, they waited around for all to leave, and made their way into the back of our semi to commit this felony. AGAIN..under the watch of @akchin.pavilion and their security. Karma is a fuckin bitch... Willie Adler
A photo posted by @willadler on May 4, 2019 at 1:35pm PDT

Scott has spent 37 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, highlights deals, and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 12 years, Scott has written more than 11,500 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from news and features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.