Berkeley teen reunited with stolen cello

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A Bay Area teenager has been reunited with her expensive cello.

It was stolen from her mom's SUV in San Francisco earlier this month and this week someone mysteriously returned it.

The bartender at Buddah Lounge was closing Tuesday night when a man in a black hooded sweatshirt rushed in.

"There's one guy who walks in and just drops of a cello thing, big, huge and just said, call the police. Make sure the police get it," said Wen Zhong, a bartender at the Buddah Lounge.

The $8,500 cello was stolen from an SUV in a garage near Union Square on April 11. Zhong didn't know that at the time.

"I went back home and tell my wife how weird that is and my wife said, 'Oh yeah, I saw that on the news," Zhong said.

He called police the next day.

Surveillance video of the crime showed a woman ransacking the SUV. Her male accomplice was in the getaway car.

The cello belongs to a 16-year-old girl. Her family doesn't want us to reveal her identity.

"Music is really, really important to me. It's an outlet of expression unlike any other," said the cello's owner.

She said when her cello was stolen, she lost her faith in humanity, but now it's restored.

"When I heard it was dropped at the bar, I was infinitely grateful for the mysterious man," the cello owner said.

It's unknown if he's the man in the video, but at least the cello is back where it belongs.

"She'll be excited and happy to get it back," Wen Zhong said.

Police are still looking for the thieves.