Darth Vader' helmet stolen during ruckus
BY GWEN FILOSA Citizen Staff
gfilosa@keysnews.com
Duval Street’s banjo-playing Darth Vader had a brush with the dark side this week when someone swiped his trademark helmet.
James Pierce, 46, the street performer who costumes as Vader with banjo chops, was trying to stop two drunken men arguing with a pedicab driver late Monday night and during the dust-up, his helmet turned up missing and was presumed stolen, according to a police incident report.
Pierce had removed the Darth Vader helmet, which he bought for $150 off eBay, and placed it on the sidewalk, he told police. After the commotion, he noticed it was gone.
Police put out BOLO, or be on the lookout, alert for the Darth Vader helmet, which on Thursday remained missing, city spokeswoman Alyson Crean said.
“There are no witnesses and no video footage,” wrote Officer Jeremy Tellier in his report, after having searched the 400 block of Eaton Street for the Vader helmet. “I did not see any video cameras pointing in the area of the theft.”
Pierce on Thursday said he wasn’t hurt during the incident and that he had a spare Vader helmet waiting in the wings.
“The police just happened to be there,” Pierce said. “By the time they arrived, the fight had rather fizzled and I thought, ‘Hell, might as well file a report on my hat.’ “
Pierce, who has logged long hours inside the helmet in the Key West heat, said on second thought he doesn’t want it back.
“It would be like if someone stole my toothbrush,” Pierce said. “Go ahead and keep it.”
Pierce thanked Key West police for their work and blamed himself for the helmet loss. He had a spare helmet given the work conditions on Duval Street for a nighttime street performer masquerading as one of the most despised modern-day villains.
“I get shoved three times a week and punched once every six,” Pierce said. “But I’m taking this as a reminder to embrace positive thought. To avoid the dark side, as it were.”
gfilosa@keysnews.com