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Suspects plead guilty week after trying to steal $30,000 from Goodyear baseball facility

Posted 5/6/19

A Peoria Sports Complex employee is accused of trying to help steal more than $30,000 worth of items from the Cincinnati Reds Spring Training Facility in Goodyear.

Editor's Note: This article …

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Suspects plead guilty week after trying to steal $30,000 from Goodyear baseball facility

Posted

A Peoria Sports Complex employee is accused of trying to help steal more than $30,000 worth of items from the Cincinnati Reds Spring Training Facility in Goodyear.

Editor's Note: This article appeared in the Daily News-Sun May 2 edition.

Goodyear police report Dustin Lee Washburn, 23, and Stephen Jesus Peers, 30, were arrested Monday afternoon in Buckeye on charges of theft, trafficking stolen property, burglary, and drug possession.

Before 5 a.m. Monday, Goodyear police responded to the Cincinnati Reds complex near Estrella Parkway and Bullard Avenue after staff called and said someone broke in and ran out a back door.

Police surrounded the ballpark as K-9 units searched the property. No one was located.

Surveillance video showed two men filling up duffel bags found inside the facility. One suspect is seen pulling one of the bags down a hallway. A suspect vehicle was also seen driving around the facility prior to the reported thefts.

Inside some bushes, police located stolen weed trimmers and a battery-powered saw. Police believe the suspects climbed over a wall that had no cameras in the area.

The Reds said the suspects tried to take an estimated $30,000 in items, to include laptops, an AED, a Transcutaneous Electrical Nerves Stimulation device, speed radar guns, radios, sunglasses, shoes and cleats, helmets, baseball gloves, bats, and other equipment. The suspects also removed some of the coach’s personal property, including autographed jerseys, hats and other items.

Police and Reds staff located seven duffel bags and two rolling carts full of items at the facility. Police said the items appeared staged for removal.

Despite the attempted removals, the Reds said the only item missing was a laptop valued at $2,000, along with cash from a drawer.

This week’s incident isn’t the only time the facilities in that area have been targeted. In

the overnight hours of April 6, unknown suspects broke into Goodyear Ballpark and stole eight flat-screen televisions. On April 14, someone stole a backpack gas leaf blower.

Police believed the burglaries were connected due to the proximity, timeframes and tools used to enter the facilities.

Facial recognition led authorities to identify Mr. Washburn as a lead. Police learned he works for Professional Sports Catering, which staffs the Peoria Sports Complex. They also learned Mr. Washburn worked at the Goodyear Ballpark for a few events.

Police found an OfferUp page for Mr. Washburn, and arranged to meet him undercover to sell an unrelated item.

When he met officers outside Culver’s along Verrado Way, Mr. Washburn was driving a vehicle similar to the suspect’s in Monday’s burglary. He was also with Mr. Peers, who matched the description of the second suspect. Both were arrested and interviewed.

Mr. Peers reportedly admitted to taking and wearing a hoodie from the facility before discarding it near a pond by the ballpark. Mr. Washburn admitted to jumping the Reds’ fence and burglarizing the facility.

“Dustin told me that he took too much to carry out and it was not planned out,” an officer says in a probable cause statement. Mr. Washburn reportedly fled with cash and two sunglasses after being surprised by Reds staff.

Mr. Washburn then admitted to the other two burglaries, including selling the leaf blower on OfferUp.

Police found two of the stolen TVs in the suspect vehicle.

Mr. Washburn was released on his own recognizance while Mr. Peers was found not bailable due to being on felony release.

Both pleaded guilty to burglary Monday, April 6, only a week after their arrests. Sentencing appears to be set for June 3.