Omaha police are searching for a thief who stole two bags of juggling equipment from the back seat of a visiting juggler's car. According to the report, Justin Gramarye has lost all his "balls, rings, clubs, diablos, cigar boxes, devil sticks and shaker cups," torches, beanbags, vests, bowties, juggling axes, and a unicycle.
Gramarye and his "friend and fellow juggler" Bradley Barger, both members of Kansas University's juggling club, were in town for the Flatland Juggling Festival. It may or may not surprise you that KU has a "juggling club" or that a juggling festival is held in Omaha. As someone who grew up on the Great Plains, it doesn't surprise me at all. If you lived a ten-hour drive from the nearest body of water, mountain, or other recreational site, you'd be juggling your ass off, too.
Gramarye found the bags missing when he returned to his car on the morning of June 4. (He and some friends had been "throwing a boomerang around.") His theory is that the thief probably did not know what was inside the bags, which is probably better than the alternative theory that someone was running around Omaha looking to score some juggling equipment. "I really think someone opened up the bags and went 'Eh?'" Gramarye said. He did not explain why he thinks the thief was a Canadian, but another companion, Daniel Hogan, supported the rest of Gramarye's theory, saying "The odds that this particular band of criminals are jugglers is fairly small." Ordinarily, sure, but during a juggling festival, maybe not.
Police said they had the list of stolen items and were investigating, but as of June 30 they had no leads. Anyone with information about the theft, such as those who may have been offered a set of devil sticks at a price too good to be true or who saw a man fleeing the scene on a unicycle, is asked to call the Omaha Police Department at (402) 444-5818, or the International Jugglers' Association at (415) 902-0097.
Link: CourtTV Online via FindLaw
Link: Lawrence Journal-World
Link: International Jugglers' Association
