FORT WORTH, Texas — Little leaguers in Fort Worth are back to the business of hits, runs and stealing bases after an unfortunate life-lesson offered by desperate real-life thieves willing to risk it all for $30 and a few bags of chips.
Volunteers who run the University Little League program were alerted by their surveillance system early Wednesday, Sept. 20, that someone was breaking into their Snack Shack concession stand at their baseball fields on Old Hemphill Road.
The surveillance video shows a man prying open the large door that covers the concession stand counter, and then crawling inside.
ULL board member Josh Robertson says the thieves took the cash registers, $30, bags of chips and other food. He estimates the loss, including the damage to the door, at about $3,000.
"So when you get news like this, it's just frustrating at the end of the day," Robertson said. "But, again, thankful for the Fort Worth Police Department."
The surveillance system allowed them to alert FWPD immediately. Officers arrived as the suspects in a white Ford Taurus sped away from the scene. Police say the trio of suspects, a man and two women, fled at high speeds through Fort Worth, Dallas County and around Fair Park.
Police said the suspects returned to the highway before eventually surrendering near Heartland in Kaufman County: a chase of approximately 60 miles. The chase ended when a left rear tire, that appeared to be a temporary spare, disintegrated.
"They pulled over to the side of the road and basically just gave up," Fort Worth Police Officer Buddy Calzado said. "There was no foot pursuit afterwards. I think they realized that when Fort Worth police was going to take them into custody, they knew they were going to be taken into custody."
The three suspect have been identified as 37-year-old Haley Lynch, 41-year-old Leila Salinas and 46-year-old Bobby Williams. All three remain in custody, facing charges of burglary, evading arrest and tampering with evidence, police say.
Calzado says the suspects were throwing items out of their car windows while the chase was underway.
University Little League, meanwhile, is hoping that North Texas Giving Day can help them recoup some of their losses. They had already begun an online campaign to help pay for badly-needed improvements after floods damaged their fields a few years ago.
"It's just frustrating," Robertson said. "But we're going to persevere through it and and work through it like we always do."