A Bay Area musician has become the latest target of thieves in Oakland, leaving him with no way to make a living.
“I miss playing, I play for a living,” said Ben Ball. “I’m still in shock, kind of overwhelmed right now.”
Just hours after his Father’s Day performance, two thieves on bikes stole two of his saxophones, including a rare 1953 Selmer alto sax, while he was unloading band equipment at a house in Oakland on 41st and Telegraph early Monday morning.
“In that split second when I went up the stairs, by the time I came back down the stairs, the guys had already taken off on the bikes,” said Ball.
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He said the men appeared to be in their late teens to early 20s and dropped one instrument during their escape -- causing hundreds of dollars in damages. The one they got away with was his sole source of income after a car accident left him disabled and unable to work.
“They are taking something that is not theirs ... The horn doesn’t have any value to the person who is taking it, as much as it does to me,” said Ball.
His friend, Sunny Adams, was watching the band unload when the theft happened. She is now putting posters up around the city to help raise money.
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“I saw in his eyes him realizing that he couldn’t work and that he wouldn’t have any gigs without a saxophone,” she said.
In an effort to get Ball back in tune, Adams set up a GoFundMe to replace the horn worth more than $7,000.
The effort to replace it raised $5,000 in just one day.
“It just gives me hope that the Bay Area is still the beautiful place,” said Ball. “It’s been really hard to see a lot of rampant crime. I just figured instead of getting upset and crying and being dejected, to do something positive.”
After being forced to cancel multiple performances, the story appears headed for a positive note. Ball hopes to soon have another instrument in hand and a little rhythm and harmony back in his life.
“That’s what I do and to not be able to do that would just be devastating," said Ball.
