Photo: Costa Mesa Police Department
You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, the saying goes. Green Day rocker Billie Joe Armstrong can confirm that, after he was reunited with his stolen car, which, by all accounts, he was able to convince the thieves to bring it back to him.
It’s not that often that you hear of a happy ending with the theft of a car, but this is one of those rare cases. Being a celebrity with a huge platform helps, as also did the fact that Armstrong himself reached out to the thieves on social media, telling them that he would not press charges if they just dropped off the vehicle somewhere without damage to it.
Last weekend, thieves broke into a commercial business in California, stealing a white, two-door 1962 Chevrolet II Nova, two electric guitars, and an amp that belonged to Armstrong. After reporting the theft to the police, Armstrong took to social media to ask for help from the fans. He said the car had been with him since 1993 and for much longer in his circle of friends and family, so the loss was very personal.
He also offered some details about the vehicle, including that it had several engines since he got it, once was involved in a crash, but was otherwise mostly original. It had also been recently restored and was in impeccable condition.
“To the people that stole it, the one thing is, like, I don’t want anyone to go to jail. That sucks, you know,” Armstrong then said. “Just drop it off. Or, you know, and if you do get caught, I’ll bail you out. I just want my car back.”
He just got his car back. Costa Mesa Police report that the vehicle was retrieved in Orange, just 10 miles (16 km) from where it had been stolen. The fact that the guitars and the amp were not recovered could mean the thieves heard Armstrong’s message and paid heed to it.
Armstrong, for one, doesn’t even care about the other stuff. “Joy ride? Maybe... who knows. We live in desperate times,” he writes on Instagram. “Thank God it’s all in one piece. No damage. Thank you, thank you to everyone that searched for my Chevy.”
Last weekend, thieves broke into a commercial business in California, stealing a white, two-door 1962 Chevrolet II Nova, two electric guitars, and an amp that belonged to Armstrong. After reporting the theft to the police, Armstrong took to social media to ask for help from the fans. He said the car had been with him since 1993 and for much longer in his circle of friends and family, so the loss was very personal.
He also offered some details about the vehicle, including that it had several engines since he got it, once was involved in a crash, but was otherwise mostly original. It had also been recently restored and was in impeccable condition.
“To the people that stole it, the one thing is, like, I don’t want anyone to go to jail. That sucks, you know,” Armstrong then said. “Just drop it off. Or, you know, and if you do get caught, I’ll bail you out. I just want my car back.”
He just got his car back. Costa Mesa Police report that the vehicle was retrieved in Orange, just 10 miles (16 km) from where it had been stolen. The fact that the guitars and the amp were not recovered could mean the thieves heard Armstrong’s message and paid heed to it.
Armstrong, for one, doesn’t even care about the other stuff. “Joy ride? Maybe... who knows. We live in desperate times,” he writes on Instagram. “Thank God it’s all in one piece. No damage. Thank you, thank you to everyone that searched for my Chevy.”
No arrests have been made in this incident and no other items that were stolen have been recovered.
— Costa Mesa Police (@CostaMesaPD) February 9, 2022
We thank the public for reporting sightings which assisted in the recovery of the vehicle. We also thank the Orange County Sheriff’s Department for locating the vehicle.
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