Joliet JackHammers Robbed

By Anna Deem in News on Mar 14, 2010 8:00PM

On Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning, intruders broke into Silver Cross Field--home to the Joliet JackHammers, a Northern League baseball team--and stole 16 LCD flatscreen TVs that had recently been installed in the luxury suites. To get into the ballpark, the robbers cut surveillance camera cables and broke open a gate.

"Around 9 p.m., Sgt. Mike Reilly received information from a confidential source that a man would be coming to Joliet from Lockport with TV sets from the break-in," Chief Fred Hayes said to the Chicago Sun-Times. Once police spotted and stopped the vehicle which had two flatscreens in its back seat--one of which had a serial number that matched a TV taken from the ballpark--they arrested the driver, David Swan, 18, and brought him in for questioning. "He admitted to burglarizing the ballpark and also implicated others," Hayes said.

Around 1 a.m., police arrested William Cooper, 20, who lives at Swan's residence, Arien Whitehead, 19, of 1710 Parkside Drive in Plainfield, and Wayne Weyker, 17, of 23120 S. Frontage Road in Channahon. Once police obtained a search warrant for Swan's house, they discovered four TVs, a soundboard, numerous bottles of alcohol that were taken from the suites, and several Joliet JackHammer souvenirs. Two additional TVs were also seized from Whitehead's house, Hayes said.

All four of the suspects were charged with burglary and booked into the county jail. "Detectives are still investigating how these offenders obtained the intimate inside knowledge of the ballpark's security," Hayes said.