Music Teacher Pawned Stolen Instruments For Drug Money, Police Say

It's time for a New York band teacher to face the music.

Police said Danielle Conner-Willowglade stole instruments from her classroom and then pawned them in a neighboring county to help feed a heroin addiction.

According to a release from the New York State Police, Conner-Willowglade admitted to stealing up to 50 instruments from the Keshequa Central School in Nunda, N.Y. The 30-year-old teacher worked in concert with her boyfriend, Nicholas Bump, to exchange the instruments for drug money, the report states.

Authorities said the music teacher had been quietly taking instruments since at least last June, the Democrat and Chronicle reports. Police clued into the scheme earlier this month when a trooper pulled her over. During the traffic stop, the trooper said she was acting "out of sorts" and had a tuba in the back seat, the outlet notes.

A subsequent inventory check by the school confirmed instruments were missing, the police release notes. On a more positive note, 12 instruments were recovered from local pawn shops.

Conner-Willowglade and Bump have both been charged with third-degree criminal possession of stolen property and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, police said. She faces an additional charge of third-degree grand larceny.