Beyoncé’s unreleased music stolen in Atlanta
(CBS, KYMA/KECY) - There's an arrest warrant out in Atlanta Tuesday morning after police say someone grabbed a bunch of hard drives containing songs Beyoncé has never released.
Just two days before the start of Beyoncé's four-show run in Atlanta, police say there was a brazen theft of her intellectual property.
According to an Atlanta Police Department (APD) report, the burglary was reported July 8 in a parking deck near a popular market.
A man police say identified himself as the singer's choreographer, and another who said he is one of her dancers, told officers someone had broken into the back window of their Jeep Wagoneer while they were away and stolen two suitcases.
The men said hard drives containing Beyoncé's unreleased songs, watermarked music, footage plans for her shows, and past and future set lists were also taken.
There is an arrest warrant out for a suspect authorities have not yet identified.
"The next steps are to do as much of a background check. See if he or she is in any type of database and see possible whereabouts, last known addresses and any other people that he or she may be affiliated with," said Rodney Harrison, a law enforcement contributor for CBS News.
APD say investigators were able to recover two very light fingerprints from the scene, and added that cameras in the area captured the crime.
Harrison says it's too soon to know whether the burglar knew the items belonged to Beyoncé, or whether the crime was random.
"It was really surprising to hear that somebody like Beyoncé had this music stolen," said Tomás Mier, a staff writer for Rolling Stone. "With somebody of the caliber of Beyoncé you expect everything to be in vaults with a lot of locks and keys. I think it's just going to cause Beyoncé to have everything locked and loaded in case it is released or somebody does leak this footage or music, that she has that has ready for her own releases at the time that she's ready to release them."
Beyonce is moving on from Atlanta as she wrapped her fourth and final show Monday night. The Cowboy Carter Tour will end later this month in Las Vegas.
