DATE: Tuesday, September 30, 1997           TAG: 9709300277

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY PAM LOWNEY, CORRESPONDENT 

DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY                    LENGTH:   52 lines

SOUND EQUIPMENT WORTH $4,000 STOLEN FROM GOSPEL PARK

Norman Warden Jr. may have one clue to the identity of the thief or thieves who stole at least $4,000 worth of uninsured sound equipment from Gospel Park last week.

``It definitely wasn't a Christian. We can eliminate that,'' the dejected gospel music promoter said Monday. He offered a $500 reward for the return of four 300-watt monitors, a lead guitar amplifier, six to eight microphones and a compact disc player.

``We don't want any trouble. We don't want to charge anybody. We just want our stuff back so we can use it for what we purchased it for,'' said the president of the Albemarle Gospel Music Association.

The group owns the 12-acre park eight miles south of here on U.S. Highway 17 South. It hosts gospel singing conventions, camp meetings and picnics. An annual singing competition took place at the park Sept. 20.

Bonita Williamson, administrative assistant for the Perquimans County Sheriff's Department, said deputies didn't find any fingerprints, and neighbors said they didn't hear or see anything unusual at the park. She said the incident remains under investigation.

Warden said someone broke into the converted mobile home that serves as a storage area and fold-out stage between 6:45 p.m. Sept. 22, when he went to secure the equipment for the season, and 6 p.m. Friday, when he arrived to prepare for a board meeting.

He noticed someone had pried open a locked window at the back of the stage. ``That looks like trouble,'' he told a helper.

After sheriff's deputies took his report, Warden said, ``I stayed up all night walking that park with the telephone in my hand in case they came back.''

He said the culprit or culprits left behind a sound board, a drum set, a rhythm guitar amplifier, speakers, more microphones and other equipment.

``They could have cleaned this place out. It's a blessing what they didn't take,'' he said.

In case anyone gets any ideas, he added, everything has been moved off site. ``If they went in there now, they wouldn't find nothing but a 1921 upright piano.''

Warden said the park has never been burglarized before. He said the equipment, obtained with small donations over 15 years, was uninsured because the nonprofit group ``just didn't have the finances. We were going to talk about it at the board meeting.''

Williamson and Warden ask anyone with information on the break-in to call the Sheriff's Department at 426-5615 or Warden at 264-2079. The stolen amp was a Peavey Stereo Chorus 212, the monitors Electra-Voice Stage 200.

``If someone sees or hears of anybody having some new (sound) equipment, we'd greatly appreciate the help to solve this,'' Williamson said. KEYWORDS: ROBBERIES

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