Valuable Beatles albums stolen from Uptown Whittier record store

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WHITTIER — A burglar broke into a Whittier record store early Monday and stole only two rare Beatles albums, shopkeepers said.
The break-in took place about 1:30 a.m. at Lovell’s Records and Tapes, 6719 Greenleaf Avenue, store manager Ruben Cortez said.
Police responded to take a burglary report once the damage and theft was discovered about 6 a.m., Whittier police Lt. Randy Inman said. A burglar had smashed through a front window of the business with a rock.
The burglar entered the store and helped himself to two framed copies of the Beatles “Yesterday and Today” album bearing the controversial “Butcher” album cover, which has become a sought after collector’s item after the cover was quickly changed by the record company shortly after its 1966 release, Cortez said.
Looking at surveillance video of the crime, it appeared the thief knew exactly what he was after, and passed by other valuable items to get the Beatles records, the manager added.
“It was less than 10 seconds,” he said. “They could have taken other things. That’s all they wanted.”
The surveillance footage shows what appears to be a tall white man with short hair, wearing a hooded sweat shirt, burglarizing the business, Cortez said. His face was not clear in the footage.
The albums taken had been framed on the wall as a display piece, Cortez said. One of them was valued at more than $1,000 and the other at more than $500, though neither was for sale.
The more pricey of the records was an original production of the controversial album cover, depicting the Fab Four dressed as butcher amid dismembered baby dolls, Cortez explained. The less-valuable record was a version that had had the original cover pasted over with the revised cover, but the sticker had been carefully removed, exposing the original cover.
The records were part of the personal collection of store owner Tom Geigle, Cortez said. Geigle had owned the rare records for more than a decade and displayed them in the store so his customers could enjoy them.

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