Arrest Made In POISON Guitarist's Stolen Equipment Case

On October 24, 2005, the home of legendary POISON guitarist C.C. Deville was broken into and over 30 pieces of equipment were stolen. A concentrated effort lead by the LAPD's Van Nuys Burglary Division, Planet Deville and VH1 came to a culmination with the arrest of the thief at the Ranchero Cucamonga Guitar Center on December 8, 2005.

Giorgio Alessandro Trabucco of Van Nuys California was arrested while attempting to sell C.C.'s Les Paul Jr to Guitar Center. An employee who had been alerted earlier in the day that his location was in possession of pieces stolen from C.C. quickly called Johannessongs and the Cucamonga Police. Trabucco was arrested in the store within minutes. Subsequent search of Trabucco's home turned up other pieces of the guitarist's equipment.

C.C. attributes the successful outcome of the case to the diligence and support of his fans, "They watched and they searched and when they would find a piece they quietly let us know what it was and where it was and what was happening with it," he said. "We even had fans that put their own money down on lay away pieces to keep them from being sold out from under us. If it wasn't for the fans and the hard work of everyone at Planet Deville we might well have lost it all."

Although Deville is rumored to have lost all but five guitars from the robbery, no specifics on items found and or recovered is being released publicly. It is believed that C.C. has recovered at least some of his high end performance equipment with the discovery of the majority of his signature GMP guitars. "Finding the GMP's was a blessing with the tour and studio commitments coming up," he said. "Those are my tour guitars. They are representative of my sound, my style and my music. They are my stage blankets if you will."

The bail hearing for Trabucco was set for December 12, 2005 with the preliminary hearing to follow on January 6, 2005. Trabucco will be facing numerous charges and counts of selling stolen property and grand larceny, and breaking and entering, as well as charges that are not related to the Deville burglary.

C.C. offered his thanks and appreciation to everyone who wrote, called or participated in the search. "My fans are simply the best," he said. "Their thoughts and prayers and efforts in this were above and beyond. After the difficult year I have had in 2005, their support and efforts give me confidence and hope for a much better 2006."

You are encouraged to contact the Van Nuys burglary division (818-756-8710) or Johannessongs, Inc. (310-388-3936) if you know the whereabouts of any of the missing items that continue to surface after the arrest.