Items to be returned to football players

Keokuk Police Chief Thomas Crew plans to return stolen items to Fairfield football team members Friday afternoon at Fairfield High School.

?There?s no reason for them to come down here and be inconvenienced,? said Crew.

Plus, he continued, although the cell phones, clothing and other evidence recovered from the burglary will be photographed Friday morning, he still needs to document what belongs to whom.

The items were stolen during a football game against the Keokuk Chiefs Oct. 21 from a locked locker room the Trojans were using there.

In custody at the juvenile detention center in Montrose are Ashleigh M. Garcia, 15, Marissa M. Lamma, 14, and Shawnie M. Short, 12, all of Keokuk. They were charged at 4 p.m. Saturday with third-degree burglary.

Crew said a detention hearing was scheduled this morning, but he predicted the girls would remain in custody. He explained additional charges have been filed on two of the girls, plus they are considered a threat to citizens due to a lack of supervision.

A football player?s cell phone equipped with a Global Positioning System helped Keokuk police track down the trio accused in burglary.

Trojans? head coach Mike Schenck said a parent with a laptop at the game Friday tracked the cell phone to Quinicy, Ill., about 40 miles away from Keokuk.

Crew said the girls used some of the money they had taken to buy gas for a friend who took them on a joyride.

The next morning, the Keokuk police tracked the phone to a three-block radius in Keokuk. They knocked on doors and asked questions, which led them to the three girls.

?It?s a sad event for the community when a team comes down for an inter-conference game and someone in our community comes and steals from them,? Crew said. ?It?s not good for our community. It?s not good for our schools. It?s not good for anyone. ? I have personally apologized to the coaches.?

Crew, a Fairfield native, son of the late Leland and the late Carol Crew, said some football players and parents thought the police were moving too slowly, but he explained the police wanted to make sure things were done correctly so the case is solid and prosecutable.

?It?s time consuming. This isn?t a 30-minute TV show,? he said. ?But I realize, in this day and age when everyone?s cell phone is their life, it?s been a big inconvenience to these kids. ? One of the phones has 500 hits on it from Facebook, from people trying to contact him.?

But part of the hold up in returning the items was because the Keokuk county attorney was away from his office for two days this week. He was responsible for making the decision whether the items themselves had to be held as evidence or if photographs would suffice so that items could be returned to their owners. The attorney made the decision this morning that the recovered items could be photographed and returned.

According to Crew, the incident remains under investigation, and more charges are pending.