Seattle man charged with string of burglaries on the properties of NFL and MLB stars | EUROtoday

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 most recent 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 Attorney’s Office.

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 workforce’s heart fielder Julio Rodriguez.

The thefts additionally concerned taking a number of watches value 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 courtroom paperwork. Prosecutors say there was additionally an tried housebreaking at baseball Hall of Famer Edgar Martinez’s house.

“All folks should really feel protected of their properties, and our workplace will proceed to carry folks accountable for legal habits,” King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion stated in an announcement.

There have been a slew of burglaries on the properties of well-known skilled athletes throughout the U.S. in current months. The gamers have been focused due to the high-end merchandise believed to be of their properties and generally the thefts occur when they’re away with their groups for highway video games.

The FBI has warned sports activities leagues about crime organizations focusing 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 Associated Press in November, the NFL stated the properties {of professional} athletes throughout a number of sports activities have develop into “increasingly targeted for burglaries by organized and skilled groups.”

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 Department of Public Defense didn’t instantly reply to an e mail from The Associated Press and a spokesperson from the prosecuting legal professional’s workplace didn’t know whether or not Riley had a lawyer.

The fees have been the results of a monthslong investigation through which the county’s prosecuting legal professional’s workplace labored with six police jurisdictions.

Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Gary Ernsdorff stated in an announcement that their work isn’t over.

“We still want to go and identify everybody who was involved and see if there are additional people that we can have sufficient evidence to charge,” he stated.

Riley is predicted to enter his preliminary plea in courtroom throughout his arraignment June 16.

He has one other pending case in King County Superior Court through which he’s charged with making an attempt to elude a pursuing police automobile and illegal possession of a firearm within the first diploma.