Copper thieves turned out the lights on Lakeside National Little League over the weekend and now league volunteers say they’re stuck with figuring out how to raise enough money to get the lights back on again.
Parents are furious criminals would essentially steal from kids.
“I think they’re dirt bags and I’d like to string 'em up from the lights they stole the wire from” said Matt Hesuffering.
The burglaries took place Friday and Saturday night will cost the league an estimated $5,000 to $10,000.
“You just feel like you were wronged” said League President Travis Kane who estimates the thieves got away with 3000 feet of copper wire.
“And then you come down and see what happened and start getting numbers from people about what it may cost to fix, is tough."
Along with the lights, some of the scoreboards no longer work.
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“It’s frustrating because who in the end ends up suffering? The kids, the parents” said parent Sherrie Hurst.
League officials had to scramble Monday to rearrange game times to assure they’d finish by sundown causing last minute inconveniences to roughly 300 families.
The larger concern is lost revenue.
The league, which leases the county-owned baseball complex, rents the complex out to other groups at night to help pay its bills.
