The San Carlos little league team was in the process of fundraising for the family of their coach who recently passed away, and now they'll also have to collect money to replace items stolen and damaged by thieves.
Lee County Sheriff's deputies deployed a helicopter and K-9s Thursday at Three Oaks Park in Fort Myers to search for two teens believed to have burglarized the San Carlos Little League's concession stand and office.
“They broke through this window," said April Ide, President of the San Carlos Little League, as she showed Four In Your Corner marks left behind from the thieves prying open the window of the concession.
Inside the concession stand deputies say they found parts of the kitchen was ransacked. A cash register was smashed into pieces on the ground, and a broken laptop was also located.
According to Ide, the laptop was used for administrative work and scheduling games. The thieves grabbed the laptop from an office next to the concession stand after breaking the door handle.
“The drawers were open, and this was all gone through and on top of the counters,” said Ide.
She estimates the thieves the cost the little league up to $2,500 in damages and stolen goods.
“We’re a non-profit organization we raise all of our money so it is basically stealing from these kids,” said Ide.
The San Carlos league was already in the process of fundraising for their coach Michael Casey. He passed away last month after suffering a medical emergency on the field.
“He has COPD and he had an attack on the field 3 less than month ago. We are still recovering from that and now to go through this; it’s hard,” said Ide.
The league will now have to fundraise to replace the items that were damaged and stolen.
“It still hurts, it still hurts every kid that is in this league,” said Ide.
