The touring British indie rock band claimed their van was targeted by armed robbers while they were buying coffee at a Starbucks in Vallejo, California, and lost their belongings on Tuesday morning, the first day of their US tour.
The band posted about the incident on their Instagram account. Cellphone video shows people taking items from the van, with the person taking the video yelling for one of the band to get off, then yelling, “Call the police! Call the police!”
This video appears to be from the Starbucks and gas station located at 199 Lincoln Rd. West of Vallejo.
Sports Team/Instagram
The video reads, “10 minutes into my US tour I was robbed at gunpoint.” “I stopped my car to get a coffee and a man ran in as some people were crashing into the van. I ran out to stop it and saw some masked men ransacking the van. When I started screaming, they pulled out a gun.”
In the video, one of the people who robbed the van can be seen brandishing a firearm at the tour manager. Two members of the band’s touring contingent were then seen running back to Starbucks, and voices could be heard in the coffee shop instructing people to stay indoors. In addition to swearing, the victims were heard mentioning items they had seen taken, including bags and laptops.
According to a BBC article, the band, who have had two albums in the UK Top 10, “lost their passports, stage equipment and belongings in the incident” which occurred at around 8.45am.
The band was scheduled to begin their U.S. tour at San Francisco’s Kilowatt on Monday night, but due to a canceled flight from the UK, that show has been rescheduled for this Saturday night at the Chapel. The postponement means the sports teams will actually begin their tour Tuesday night with an all-ages show at the Goldfield Trading Post in Sacramento. The band was on its way to Sacramento when the robbery occurred.
“The police response was, ‘File a report online.’ I lost a lot of personal equipment, but I couldn’t get my instrument, so I drove to Sacramento to play tonight.” the band said in an Instagram post.
CBS News Bay Area has reached out to the Vallejo Police Department regarding this incident, but has not yet received a response.
Although the post attempted to be flippant, the band seemed shocked and upset by what happened to them.
“In all seriousness, it was pretty shocking how resigned everyone seemed to be to it: ‘It happens,'” the post said at the end. “It’s 9 a.m. and it’s a Starbucks at some gas station. It’s wild.”
