Series of car burglaries strikes SIUE baseball field, police say

Kandy Travis got a nasty surprise when her family attended a baseball tournament last weekend: a broken window and a stolen purse.

There have been at least five car burglaries in the past couple months at Simmons Baseball Field on the campus of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, according to police. Travis and her family, who live in Belknap, were attending the Mid-America Baseball Tournament — something they’d done many times before. Their son’s Southern Illinois team has played in Memphis and Mississippi, Florida and Alabama, St. Louis and Indiana.

“We’ve been doing this for nine-plus years, but nothing like this has happened before,” Travis said. “We’ve never had any trouble. When you play on a travel team, everybody respects each other’s property, and you usually don’t have to worry about anyone taking anything.”

In fact, when Travis and her family left the stands and found their car windshield shattered, their first thought was not robbery, but a stray ball or bat. “It’s baseball, what’s the first thing you think?” she said.

It was not until the family reached Walmart to buy plastic sheeting to cover the window that they realized Travis’ purse was missing.

Another family was hit at the same time — a family from the other team, whose van window was likewise shattered and a purse and wallet stolen. Travis said her purse was covered up and hidden, but they found it anyway. She said due to the layout at Simmons Field, you can’t directly see the cars in the parking lot from the seating, which she expected made it easier for the burglars to gain access to the cars.

SIUE Deputy Police Chief Dan Keeton said there have been five vehicle burglaries between May 16 and this past weekend. “They are more than likely using a window punch tool, similar to what police use to break windows to (rescue) victims,” Keeton said.

Nor are all the burglaries taking place during games. One car was burglarized on May 16 while parked at the stadium lot near the bike trail. A cellphone was taken.

On June 1, two cars were hit. One was unlocked and the wallet was taken with no forced entry, while the other’s side window was smashed and another wallet taken.

In at least one case, a stolen credit card was used in Missouri, Keeton said.

Keeton said the SIUE Police Department has increased patrols in the area and is working with the athletic department to schedule patrols for “more of a presence” during games and events at the baseball field.

In the meantime, Travis said she has spent days getting cards replaced and checking accounts.

“You feel so violated,” she said. “Those idiots who did this have no idea what they’ve done.”

This story was originally published June 26, 2018 at 7:27 PM with the headline "Series of car burglaries strikes SIUE baseball field, police say."