It’s a bit worse for wear, but it’s back and it can still hold a tune.
It’s a Boston Steinway baby grand piano and it was stolen in a brazen robbery from Toronto General Hospital last July.
A “baby grand” is a huge piano that weighs more than 225 kilograms. That’s one reason why the robbery was so bizarre.
Another reason is that the thief hired some movers and they simply walked out with it, right in broad daylight.
The movers didn’t know they were stealing the piano. They just thought they were being hired for a moving job.
Several people from the hospital stopped the movers and asked them what they were doing. They said they were taking the piano away to be repaired.
A man named Artem Stanislav Timofeyev, who is 27 years old and works as a model, has been arrested by Toronto police and charged with the theft.
Police say they believe Timofeyev sold the piano to a local business that also didn’t know it was stolen property.
On Aug. 29 Timofeyev was charged with “theft over $5,000” and fraud.
The piano, which had originally been donated to the hospital, is worth about $27,000.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
By Kathleen Tilly
Writing/Discussion Prompt
This is quite a bizarre story. What do you think about it? Why do you think the robber stole the piano in the first place? Why do you think he stole from one of the busiest hospitals in Toronto?
Reading Prompt: Elements of Style
The journalist, Joyce Grant, chose to start the article with the following sentence: “It’s a bit worse for wear, but it’s back and it can still hold a tune.”
What makes this sentence different from the way other news articles begin? What does this opening sentence ask the reader to do?
Primary
Identify some elements of style, including voice, word choice, and different types of sentences, and explain how they help readers understand texts (OME, Reading: 2.4).
Junior
Identify some elements of style, including voice, word choice, and different types of sentences, and explain how they help readers understand texts (OME, Reading: 2.4).
Grammar Feature: Adjectives
This robbery was described as “bizarre”. What are some other adjectives (describing words) that you could use to describe this situation? Think of at least 5.
