News Segment
OSBOURNES DISTRESSED BY HOME JEWEL THEFT:
November 23, 2004
BEACONSFIELD, England – Heavy metal rocker turned reality TV star Ozzy Osbourne and his wife, Sharon, spoke of their distress after a burglar stole valuable jewelry from their English country mansion.
The thief, who was unsuccessfully tackled by Ozzy as he raided the house early Monday morning, made off with items including wedding rings, gem-encrusted watches, necklaces and a rare 24-carat sapphire, the couple and police said.
“I’m sure a lot of people will look at us and say, `Well, they have got more, they can buy it again, there’s more serious things happening in the world,'” Sharon Osbourne told a news conference Tuesday at a hotel near the couple’s home in Buckinghamshire, west of London.
“But the thing is, we worked for everything,” she said.
The Osbournes, along with Lloyds underwriters, are offering a reward of up to $185,950 for information leading to the conviction of the burglar, Detective Inspector Paul Miller of Thames Valley Police said.
British media reports speculated that the stolen items were worth $3.7 million in total. A spokeswoman for the Lloyds Underwriting Agents Association couldn’t immediately comment on those reports.
Sharon Osbourne called police at 4 a.m. Monday to tell them a burglar was in the house, Miller said, adding that the intruder apparently used a ladder to get in through a first-floor window.
Ozzy surprised the thief and chased him from the house, Miller said. The 55-year-old former Black Sabbath frontman spoke only briefly about the incident.
“It could have got really ugly. I just thank God that no one got injured,” Ozzy said, adding that he acted “just purely on impulse.”
Asked if he would tackle a burglar again, he replied: “Is the Pope a Catholic?”
During the news conference, police showed slides of the stolen pieces and Sharon explained their sentimental significance.
The burglar took a diamond daisy chain necklace, which was a 20-year wedding anniversary gift from Ozzy, as well as two gem-studded watches, both of which were collectors’ pieces.
The thief also stole a string of pearls with a diamond clasp and a diamond rose ring.
One of the most significant losses was a ring featuring a 24-carat sapphire known as “the Swimming Pool,” Sharon said. She bought it with what she called “my first significant money” a few years ago as an investment for her daughters.
She also lost her wedding rings, which Ozzy bought her several years ago when they renewed their marriage vows.
Also lost in the theft was a 10-carat diamond ring that her husband bought her “because it was 10 and I was a perfect 10,” Sharon said.
Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne starred in the MTV reality show, “The Osbournes,” which was filmed in their Beverly Hills, Calif., mansion.
Courtesy of Associated Press