Former DJ's massive record collection stolen from Sacramento area storage unit
SACRAMENTO — A former DJ had to scratch plans to catalog his classic record collection with nearly 4,000 pieces of vinyl.
Erik Winkelman said he's been playing the same old tune for months now, pushing investigators to help him get his classic records back.
"It's just picking apart a collection," he said. "I looked at it like it was a classic car somebody is parting out."
Thieves broke in through the front door of his storage unit off Sunrise Boulevard on October 24, 2023.
"I have a bunch of electronics stuff, which was nerdy stuff nobody liked or wants," Winkleman said. "And then they saw the records. There were so many, they couldn't take them all."
Winkleman said thieves returned to steal nearly all of his collection, which totaled 3,800 records.
"What don't I have? It was everything – from the 80s and 90s," he said.
Winkelman owned Music Magic, a DJ company, for two decades. His records were marked with his emblem, something that played a part in tracking the records down at a nearby second-hand store called Half Price Books.
"Somebody from Lake Tahoe. That's where my DJ business was," Winkleman said. "[I] lived down here and said 'Who is selling their records from Lake Tahoe' because I had a name and address on there from Lake Tahoe. My business, Music Magic."
His daughter happened to be friends with that person and connected the two.
"It was not just one or two records. It was a whole collection, so it was sad," said.
Winkelman wants his playlist back.
"Once it's been scattered, it's probably more than one record store," he said.
Winkelman filed a police report and hopes surveillance footage will help find the thieves so he can sing a different tune and return to cataloging his collection.
"I don't know why you do the things you do," he said of the thieves. "I pray for you."
Half Price Books said they are aware of the investigation but cannot comment. The Sacramento County Sheriff's Office asks that if anyone knows anything about the missing records to contact them.
