‘Sorry, I been drunk’: Thief returns stolen mandolins to New Jersey guitar store with apology note
Stock photo of two vintage mandolins (Joby Sessions/Guitarist Magazine/Future via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — In a sobering decision, one drunk thief apparently changed his tune and returned two mandolins that he had previously stolen, according to the owner of a New Jersey vintage guitar store.
In a social media post Friday, Lark Street Music said that two previously stolen mandolins – a small, guitar-like instrument in the lute family – had been returned to the store, along with a handwritten note partly in all caps that read, “SORRY, I BEEN DRUNK, MERRY CHRISTMAS You are good man.”
Buzzy Levine, who has owned the store since 1981, told ABC News that he was shocked when the instruments were returned.
“I couldn’t believe it. I said, ‘this is insane.’ This is like, some kind of weird movie that has a happy ending or something,” Levine said.
The store had previously posted surveillance video online depicting the alleged thief stuffing the instruments beneath his parka and leaving the store on Monday, Dec. 22, and asking for help in identifying the culprit.
“How to steal 2 mandolins at the same time! Be on the lookout for this criminal and the Gibson F-12 #A2985 and a Weber Yellowstone #9360302. This thief has a Montenegrin accent,” the post read.
Levine told ABC News that the mandolins were valued at $3,500 and $4,250, respectively.
Levine said in his online post that he saw the alleged thief “surreptitiously” open the store’s front door and return the mandolins in two shopping bags.
“An instant later, I wanted to see who did it, and so I went outside, and I saw the guy sort of trotting down the street. And I took chase, probably not the smartest thing to do, and he was he took off. He was running really fast and kept looking back to see if I was catching up or he was gaining ground, and then he took a turn – and then I lost them,” Levine said, adding that he then called 911.
Christopher Kurschner, captain of investigations for the Teaneck Police Department, told ABC News that they’re investigating the crime but haven’t made arrests. Anyone with information can call the Teaneck Police Department at 201-837-2600.
The U.S. Embassy in Mexico released this photo of Ryan Wedding on Dec. 8, 2025. U.S. Embassy in Mexico
(NEW YORK) — A former Olympic snowboarder is one of the FBI’s most wanted fugitives, with authorities comparing the Canadian citizen to notorious drug lords like Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and Pablo Escobar.
The alleged drug kingpin — 44-year-old Ryan Wedding — is accused of heading a criminal enterprise that traffics tons of cocaine, engages in murder to further their aims and retaliate, and uses cryptocurrency to conceal their illicit profits.
Wedding faces multiple federal charges in the United States, where authorities have said he is responsible for trafficking “multi-ton quantities of cocaine” from Colombia. He is also wanted by authorities in Canada on separate charges, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
The FBI dubbed its operation into the alleged criminal organization “Giant Slalom” — a nod to Wedding’s Olympic event — and has warned the fugitive should be considered dangerous.
Wedding — whose alleged aliases include “El Jefe,” “Giant” and “Public Enemy” — is believed to be in Mexico, being protected by the Sinaloa cartel, according to the FBI.
Here’s a look at Wedding’s path from premier athlete to alleged drug kingpin.
Feb. 27, 1999
Wedding wins the bronze medal in the men’s parallel giant slalom event at the 1999 Junior World Championship.
March 8, 2001
Wedding wins the silver medal in the men’s parallel giant slalom event at the 2001 Junior World Championships.
Feb. 14, 2002
Wedding competes for Canada in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, where he places 24th in the men’s giant parallel slalom.
June 13, 2008
Wedding is arrested in San Diego and subsequently charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine, according to court records. According to the federal complaint, he conspired with two others to buy 24 kilograms of cocaine, unwittingly from an FBI source, as part of a Vancouver-based drug trafficking organization.
Nov. 30, 2009
A jury finds Wedding guilty of conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
May 28, 2010
A federal judge sentences Wedding to 48 months in prison.
Dec. 7, 2011
Wedding is released from U.S. federal prison. Federal prosecutors allege he would go on to found his criminal enterprise.
Nov. 20, 2023
Two parents are murdered in front of their daughter, who was also injured, in a case of mistaken identity in Ontario, according to federal prosecutors. Wedding and his alleged second-in-command — Andrew Clark, a fellow Canadian — had allegedly ordered the retaliatory murder of a Canadian drug trafficker, believing the driver had stolen 300 kilograms of cocaine from them, according to a federal indictment.
The assassin crew broke into a house that the family was renting, fatally shooting the two victims and seriously injuring a third, mistakenly believing they were family members of the co-conspirator, according to the indictment. The couple’s daughter was shot multiple times but survived, prosecutors said.
April 1, 2024
An individual was killed in Ontario, allegedly at the order of Clark and another man involved in the criminal enterprise, according to federal prosecutors.
May 18, 2024
Another individual is killed over a drug debt, allegedly at the order of Wedding and Clark, according to federal prosecutors.
June 18, 2024
A sealed, six-count indictment is filed against Wedding and Clark in Los Angeles federal court, charging them with running a criminal enterprise, committing murder in support of the enterprise and conspiring to distribute and export cocaine.
Sept. 17, 2024
A superseding indictment is filed in Los Angeles federal court against Wedding, Clark and 14 others. The 16-count indictment includes, among others, an attempted murder charge against Wedding and Clark.
The indictment alleges that the enterprise conspired to ship hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Southern California to Canada. The cocaine was allegedly transported from Mexico to the Los Angeles area, where it was stored in stash houses before being transported to Canada via long-haul semi-trucks, according to the indictment.
The indictment also alleges the organization committed multiple murders to achieve its aims, including the killings and attempted murder of the family members in November 2023 in Ontario and the murders of the individuals in April 2024 and May 2024.
Wedding and others allegedly made billions of dollars through the enterprise, which was moved around in the form of cryptocurrency, prosecutors say.
Law enforcement has seized more than one ton of cocaine, three firearms, dozens of rounds of ammunition, $255,400 in U.S. currency and more than $3.2 million in cryptocurrency as part of its investigation into the so-called Wedding Drug Trafficking Organization, the DOJ says.
The FBI is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for any information leading to Wedding’s arrest.
Oct. 8, 2024
Clark is arrested by Mexican authorities, according to the Department of Justice. He is subsequently extradited to the U.S.
Oct. 17, 2024
On the same day federal prosecutors announce the superseding indictment, Wedding’s attorney allegedly advises him and Clark that if a federal witness were killed, the federal charges against them “would necessarily be dismissed,” according to a subsequent federal indictment.
Wedding then allegedly places a bounty of up to $5 million on the witness in exchange for “any person locating and killing” the individual, according to the indictment.
Jan. 31, 2025
The federal witness is killed while eating at a restaurant in Medellin, Colombia, by an unknown shooter, according to a federal indictment. The witness, who was not identified in the indictment, was shot in the head five times, prosecutors said.
Following confirmation of the witness’ death, Wedding allegedly facilitates an approximately $500,000 payment to members of the conspiracy in Colombia via an encrypted platform, according to the indictment.
March 6, 2025
Wedding is added to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.
The U.S. Department of State is now offering a reward of up to $10 million for his capture. The reward is “jointly being offered with assistance from the Canadian and Mexican governments as part of a unified effort to bring Wedding to justice,” the FBI says.
March 24, 2025
Clark pleads not guilty to his federal charges. His trial is set to begin in February 2026.
Oct. 28, 2025
A new federal indictment is filed against Wedding in Los Angeles federal court, accusing him of orchestrating the murder of the witness in Colombia. Eighteen others, including his Ontario-based lawyer, are also charged in the indictment in connection with his alleged criminal enterprise. The lawyer — who has not yet entered a plea — is accused of advising Wedding that if he killed the witness, then criminal charges against him in his 2024 federal narcotics case would be dropped, prosecutors said.
The indictment alleges that the criminal enterprise worked with members and associates of prominent Mexican drug cartels to move hundreds of kilograms of cocaine via boats and planes from Colombia to Mexico at a time, then used semi-trucks to smuggle the drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border.
Nov. 19, 2025
The U.S. Department of State increases its reward for information regarding Wedding to $15 million.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control also sanctions Wedding, as well as multiple individuals and entities closely associated with him.
Dec. 8, 2025
U.S. officials release new photos of Wedding. In one, a newly obtained photo released by the Los Angeles FBI office, Wedding is seen lying in a bed shirtless, with a prominent tattoo of a lion on his chest, in a photo authorities said is believed to have been taken in Mexico during the summer of 2025. In the other, shared by the U.S. Embassy in Mexico, Wedding is seen with a different haircut and facial hair in an undated photo.
Heavy rain fall (Photography by Keith Getter (all rights reserved)/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Up to 100,000 people in Washington state could be ordered to evacuate amid a threat of “catastrophic” flooding from an atmospheric river event, officials said.
Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson, who announced a state of emergency on Wednesday, pleaded with residents to follow evacuation orders and warned on social media, “Catastrophic flooding is likely.”
In Skagit County, north of Seattle, officials called for evacuations amid the major flooding, saying “residents within the FEMA 100-year floodplain need to evacuate to high ground immediately.”
Multiple rivers are at major flood stage and more are expected to grow into major flood stage later in the day on Thursday.
The Snohomish River at Snohomish reached a record high of 33.9 feet on Thursday morning, and it may stay near this level for 24 hours. The floodwaters are expected inundate much of the river valley and could overtop the levees.
Record flooding is possible at other river locations, including the Skagit River near Concrete and near Mount Vernon, the Snoqualmie River at Snoqualmie Falls, the Cedar River at Renton, and the Snohomish River near Snohomish Monroe.
Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell said on social media she was “alarmed” to hear the Skagit River could peak as high as 5 feet above its record crest level.
“Please please please stay alert and follow evacuation orders,” she posted. “This is not just another flood.”
Roads are flooded and closed across North Bend — a city about 30 miles east of Seattle — and mudslides have closed parts of Interstate 90.
Eastside Fire and Rescue, which services parts of King County just east of Seattle, started conducting water rescues on Wednesday. Three adults and a dog were rescued after their home flooded, and two adults and a child were rescued in another incident.
Eastside Fire and Rescue released video of the moment two drivers were rescued rescued by helicopter Wednesday night. After the drivers were caught in the floodwaters, they were forced to flee to higher ground, with one person climbing to the top of their car and the other seeking safety in a tree, officials said.
“Stay home and don’t travel unless necessary,” the sheriff’s office urged on Thursday.
The flooding was sparked by an atmospheric river event that dumped more than 1 foot of rain at higher elevations of western Washington state over the last three days. The heavy rain is continuing Thursday morning and then will weaken throughout the day.
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) captured this image of an X5.8 solar flare peaking at 9:23 p.m. EDT, May 10, 2024. (NASA)
(NEW YORK) — A strong geomagnetic storm could soon interact with Earth’s atmosphere, bringing the potential for northern lights displays to be seen much further south in the continental U.S., according to space weather experts.
A Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) — a massive burst of solar material and magnetic field from the sun’s outer atmosphere — that occurred on Sunday is expected to reach Earth within the next 24 hours, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center and the U.K.’s Met Office.
Strong (G3) or severe (G4) geomagnetic storm conditions could occur as a result of the CME, including auroras that extend as far south as Alabama and northern California.
Northern light displays occur when a solar flare interacts with the atoms and molecules in Earth’s atmosphere.
As the solar flare clashes with the upper atmosphere, it causes the atoms to emit a glow, creating a spectrum of light in the night sky.
Whether the auroras will actually be visible will depend on how the CME arrives, the magnetic orientation of the CME’s magnetic field and how cloudy it is locally.
The best time to see the northern lights in the U.S. is generally between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. local time, and traveling to the darkest location possible is recommended for the best viewing, according to NOAA.
The storm could also impact power systems, spacecraft operations, radio frequencies and satellite navigation.
Geomagnetic storms are ranked on a scale of 1 to 5. A G3 storm could require voltage corrections on power systems and cause intermittent satellite navigation and low-frequency radio navigation problems, according to NOAA.
Under a G4 storm, possible widespread voltage control problems and other issues on power grids could occur, as could increased satellite navigation and low-frequency radio navigation problems.
Spacecrafts could also experience surface charging and tracking problems.
The sun’s magnetic field reached its solar maximum phase of its 11-year cycle in October 2024 and has continued to emit strong solar flares and geomagnetic storms, leading to an increase in aurora displays.
Intense magnetic activity caused by sunspots are expected to last through 2026, according to NOAA.
NOAA is currently analyzing the data for the most recent CME.
