SEATTLE — A Seattle man was charged Friday with a string of burglaries on the properties of outstanding present and former soccer and baseball gamers, marking the newest instance of well-known athletes being focused in house thefts.
Earl Henderson Riley IV, 21, was charged with a number of counts of residential housebreaking in each occupied and unoccupied properties, together with first-degree theft, based on the King County Prosecuting Lawyer’s Workplace.
Prosecutors say Riley was the ringleader in a sequence of burglaries that began in February and concerned stealing greater than $6,000 in Louis Vuitton baggage from Seattle Mariners pitcher Luis Castillo’s house and over $194,000 in excessive finish purses and jewellery from the house of the staff’s centre fielder Julio Rodriguez.
The thefts additionally concerned taking a number of watches price greater than $100,000 from former Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman’s house and a housebreaking on the house of Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell, who’s from Washington, though nothing was stolen in that occasion, based on court docket paperwork. Prosecutors say there was additionally an tried housebreaking at baseball Corridor of Famer Edgar Martinez’s house.
“All folks should really feel secure of their properties, and our workplace will proceed to carry folks accountable for legal conduct,” King County Prosecuting Lawyer Leesa Manion mentioned in an announcement.
There have been a slew of burglaries on the properties of well-known skilled athletes throughout the U.S. in latest months. The gamers have been focused due to the high-end merchandise believed to be of their properties and typically the thefts occur when they’re away with their groups for street video games.
The FBI has warned sports activities leagues about crime organizations concentrating on skilled athletes. The NFL and NBA have additionally issued safety alerts after burglaries on the properties of such star athletes as Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce.
In a memo obtained by The Related Press in November, the NFL mentioned the properties {of professional} athletes throughout a number of sports activities have develop into “more and more focused for burglaries by organized and expert teams.”
Riley is being held within the King County Jail on $1 million bail. It was not instantly clear whether or not he has a lawyer. The King County Division of Public Defence didn’t instantly reply to an e-mail from The Related Press and a spokesperson from the prosecuting legal professional’s workplace didn’t know whether or not Riley had a lawyer.
The costs have been the results of a monthslong investigation wherein the county’s prosecuting legal professional’s workplace labored with six police jurisdictions.
Senior Deputy Prosecuting Lawyer Gary Ernsdorff mentioned in an announcement that their work is just not over.
“We nonetheless wish to go and establish everyone who was concerned and see if there are extra those that we are able to have enough proof to cost,” he mentioned.
Riley is predicted to enter his preliminary plea in court docket throughout his arraignment June 16.
He has one other pending case in King County Superior Court docket wherein he’s charged with making an attempt to elude a pursuing police car and illegal possession of a firearm within the first diploma.
