MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Police are investigating after White Station High School football players had their locker room burglarized Friday night while they were on the field.
The team was playing an away game at Whitehaven High School, only to go back to the locker room to find it ransacked.
It was a crushing blow to the Spartans, who were already dealing with a 41-20 loss against their rivals, the Tigers.
Erica Neal said her son, Eli, was among nearly two dozen players who were targeted.
“Wireless Beats headphones and an LG phone were taken,” Neal said. “Shoes and clothes were taken from two or three players, and they left the game pretty much barefoot and in gym shorts.”
Eli’s iPhone 6 Plus was stolen.
Police say two other parents reported their kids’ cell phones had also been taken.
“They’re all really, really good boys from good families, and I just felt heartbroken for them because they don’t deserve it,” Neal said. “Then I get furious for the parents, because I know the sacrifices that they make in order for these boys to have what they have.”
Neal said no one was watching the locker room, which she tells WREG was left open, despite having police officers all over campus.
“When you come in, they pat you down, they wand you and they go through your bag,” she said. “They should have locked the locker room. We’ve played everywhere. We don’t have a home field, so we do a lot of away games. We’ve never experienced this ever.”
She believes she and the other parents not only deserve answers, but they also want the thieves to pay.
“I feel like somebody saw something, someone knows something and I won’t rest until we get to the bottom of it,” Neal said. “We may not get their phones back, but I just want whoever did it to be held responsible for their actions.”
Police said they have no suspects.
WREG reached out to school officials to find out why the locker room was left unlocked and how they plan to keep something like this from happening again.
They haven’t responded.
