Two suspected thieves were seen driving away early this morning, Friday, in a stolen golf cart filled with stolen equipment and other items from the Spirit of Morgan Hill fastpitch softball league’s equipment shed on the San Martin Gwinn Elementary School campus, according to a janitor who witnessed the incident.
According to league president Marilyn Burke, a janitor at SM Gwinn spotted “two men driving the golf cart full of stuff” northbound up the railroad tracks at approximately 6:30 a.m. Friday. They were later spotted by another witness driving the same golf cart on Llagas Road at about 8 a.m.
“We have girls in the competitive season and now we have no pitching machine for practice,” said Burke, who posted news of the theft on her Facebook page. “We’re a nonprofit, so (the theft) has a huge impact on the girls and their ability to practice.”
Approximately 372 girls from Morgan Hill, Gilroy, San Martin and Hollister participate in the popular league, Burke added.
Burke said the suspects appear to have used an unspecified tool to pry off the strong box over the lock on the equipment shed, then cut the lock to gain entrance. The alleged suspects then loaded up a pitching machine, Spirit-wear sweatshirts, cases of soda and other new equipment including chin straps for helmets into the golf cart, according to Burke. The suspected thieves also broke the cash register and took $20 worth of change.
Burke estimates more than $5,000 worth of items were stolen from the equipment shed. She spoke at the scene Friday morning with an officer from the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department.
“We don’t know what else they got. We’re still trying to figure that out,” said Burke, whose daughter plays on one of the Spirit’s competitive travel teams that uses the San Martin softball diamond as a home field. Spirit’s recreational league is currently in the off-season until March.
“They had stuff piled up by the door,” detailed Burke. “I think they ran out of space (on the golf cart.)”
Burke said there has only been one other failed attempted to gain access to the equipment shed in the league’s 31 years of existence.
Anybody with information related to this incident should call the Sheriff’s South County Tip Line: (408) 686-3658.
