Alleged Thieves Steal $1,000 Worth from Youth Snack Bar

A snack bar used to support a local youth baseball league was the target of another burglary over the weekend, police confirmed.

Organizers with Murrieta Valley Pony Baseball League arrived Sunday morning to find a metal screen guarding the windows of the Snack Shack at 41825 Fig St. had been cut through. Items including a cash register, nacho machine and food and drink items were missing, according to Greg Flores, president of the nonprofit league.

It was the second time this year the snack bar was burglarized, Murrieta police Sgt. Don Weller confirmed. The first was on Jan. 16 and was reported just after 9 a.m., he said. This latest one was reported at 11:30 a.m. Sunday.

The league had installed a metal screen over the glass windows of the snack bar that were allegedly smashed during the first incident, Flores said.

On Sunday, the thieves allegedly got away with an empty cash register valued at $300, a nacho machine worth $400 and an estimated $300 in food and drink items, Flores said.

It was unclear how the thieves may have entered the baseball park.

"The gates are always locked at this facility, but the fence is easy to jump over," Weller said, noting officers dusted for fingerprints. The case remained under investigation, he said.

"The advice I would give is to make sure the building is secured with locks, install bright lights or motion sensor lights, do not leave cash or other high end valuable items on site, and an alarm would help too," Weller said, referring to any similar facility.

Anne Johnson, snack bar coordinator, said with the news still sinking in they are undecided as to what safeguards the league may take to combat the possibilty of another break-in.

"(We are) considering an alarm system but that won't prevent a break-in," Johnson told Patch.

The loss suffered from the first break-in was $600, not including window repair, Johnson said.

"This time it is going to be more than that. We had just purchased the nacho machine in June."

Anyone with information about this incident was encouraged to contact the dispatch line at 951-696-3615 and ask for the on-duty watch commander, Weller said.

Anyone who may wish to help Murrieta Valley Pony Baseball League, a registered 501(c)3 charitable organization, recover from the break-in was invited to email Flores at president@mvpb.org.

"It's very unfortunate that individuals would see fit to vandalize and steal from a youth sports league," Flores said. "These people are essentially stealing from the youth of our city. Resources that could be going towards our programs on the field now once again have to go toward repairing and securing our property. For what the thieves are getting out of it, it is really a senseless crime."