Found: honor guard bagpipes stolen from officer's car

UPDATE: Bagpipes belonging to a member of the Hamilton County Police Association Honor Guard that were stolen from his car Monday night have been recovered, Mariemont police confirmed late Tuesday.

A mail carrier found the bagpipes alongside a road in Southgate.

"I am ecstatic," said Honor Guard Member Steve Watt, who also is a Mariemont Police Officer. "It's amazing how many special people I am surrounded by."

The mail carrier, Glen Harderer, said he spotted the musical instrument in the weeds off Alexandria Pike next to a bag marked "Mariemont police."

He said he first saw the items about 10 a.m. Tuesday, but kept working and didn't go back to check until a few hours later.

"I didn't know it was stolen," Harderer said in an interview late Tuesday. "I just saw it laying by the side of the road and picked it up and then I saw the bag and called (police) tonight after work."

The mail carrier said Watt retrieved his beloved bagpipes late Tuesday.

"He was really happy about it," Harderer said. "I feel great."

Watt's Honor Guard uniform, off-duty gun, badge and precious mementos from police funerals are still missing, police said.

All of the items were stolen from Watt's parked car Monday night while he was inside watching a performance at Playhouse in the Park in Mt. Adams.

"This is a first," Watt said in an interview Tuesday morning. "The bagpipes are the biggest killer. I had priceless tokens in there that people had given me over the past 20 years, things that wouldn't mean anything to most people, but each one had special meaning to me, mementos like pins and a special note from (fallen Cincinnati Police Officer) Sonny Kim's funeral."

Cincinnati police are investigating the apparent random break-in of Watt's black, four-door 2006 Honda Accord, A vehicle parked in front of his car also had windows smashed out.

Two purses were taken from the car parked in front of Watt's.

He said he discovered his bagpipes and other gear including his police bag missing when he and his family left after the play ended and ran to his car in the pouring rain.

The windows on his Honda were broken: the driver's side door and back passenger ones.

"I didn't see my garment bag hanging in the backseat and I knew I was in trouble," Watt said.

The thief or thieves opened his trunk, and that's where they found and stole his bagpipes and other bags of gear - and all the precious mementos.

His off-duty 9 mm handgun and police badge also were stolen,

Watt said he had the bagpipes and other items in his car because he had just come from standing vigil for a retired law enforcement officer who recently died.

Watt, 54, has served on the honor guard several years and worked at the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office before retiring as a sergeant in 2014. He now works as a police officer patrolling Mariemont.

He was supposed to perform with the Honor Guard Tuesday in graveside services for Henry Bode, retired Hamilton County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy, at New St. Joseph Cemetery in West Price Hill.

Other Honor Guard members loaned him a bagpipe and uniform so he could still participate.

Enquirer media partner Fox19 provided this report.

EARLIER REPORT: An officer in the Hamilton County Honor Guard had just played his bagpipes at a vigil Monday evening, hours before they his bagpipes were stolen from his car.

Steve Watt, a Mariemont police officer, was at Playhouse in the Park in Mount Adams when his bagpipes, his Honor Guard uniform, his police bag and his bagpipe bag were all stolen from his car. In his bag, he had a "special thank you" from Cincinnati officer Sonny Kim's funeral last year.

"I can't tell you how much my heart sank," Watt said in an email. "I know that everything can be replaced and, yes, it's only material...but those pipes were my life. I had many priceless tokens of thanks in my case..."

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Watt, previously a sergeant with the Hamilton County Sheriff Police Department, has been playing bagpipes since a good friend and fellow police officer died in 1984. He often plays at police officers' vigils and other events.

He planned to play at Hamilton County Chief Deputy Harry Bode's vigil Tuesday. Bode helped start the bagpipe unit, Watt said.

Watt still will play, but he'll have to borrow someone else's bagpipes.

The Cincinnati Police Department is investigating the theft. 

Daniel Hils, the president of the local Fraternal Order of Police, posted asking everyone to help find Watt's asked in a Facebook post for help finding the bagpipes.

"We will show our appreciation for Steve's dedication to the Greater Cincinnati Law Enforcement community," Hils wrote on the group's Facebook page. "I want every officer in the Tri-state...looking for his stolen bagpipes."

 - Kaitlin L. Lange, The Enquirer