Michael Jackson Album a Hit--to Robbers Who Steal 30,000 Copies From Warehouse

Michael Jackson’s heavily promoted “Dangerous” album, considered one of the hottest commodities in the record business, became hot in another sense early Wednesday when robbers stole 30,000 copies of the yet-to-be-released recording from a warehouse at Los Angeles International Airport.

Three robbers using a gun, a forklift and a truck hauled away several pallets loaded with cartons of the recordings from the Profit Freight warehouse in the 5700 block of Arbor Vitae Street, said Los Angeles Police Detective H. Davis. He speculated that stolen copies of “Dangerous”--not scheduled to be sold in stores until Tuesday--are now available on the street “at a discount.”

Sue Satriano, a spokeswoman for Sony Music Entertainment, which is marketing Jackson’s album on the Epic Records label, said 30,000 CDs, cassettes and long-playing records were stolen, and placed the retail value of the loss at between $250,000 and $300,000.