Lynn Youth Soccer officials wave red card over theft of bleachers

LYNN – Thieves who recently stole a set of new aluminum bleachers installed at Hood Park have marred the Sept. 8 start of the upcoming soccer season, and have left locals scratching their heads as to who committed the crime.Lynn Youth Soccer Board President Pam Hinkle said all but a few nuts and bolts remain of the bleachers, which were approximately 18 feet long and standing four benches high.”I think that whoever did this, just dismantled the bleachers and took them during the night when no one was watching,” she said. “We just put them in because we got a youth assistance grant from the Community Development Department for two sets of bleachers.”Hinkle said thieves stole one set, which cost approximately $1,500, and left the other intact on the field. Plans to firmly secure the remaining bleachers are in the works.”We don’t have someone to monitor the park all the time, so we aren’t sure exactly when they were stolen,” she said. “We did file a police report and we’ve asked a couple of neighbors if they saw anything. So far, no one seems to know what happened.”While Hinkle said she isn’t sure whether the crime can be considered a prank, she did say she’s confident it wasn’t another soccer team that stole the seats.”The league is not a rivalry type thing,” she said. “The kids all have a mutual respect for each other. I actually wish it was a prank instead of just some person taking them on their own.”This isn’t the first time this has happened in the city. Last spring, just before the start of baseball season, West Lynn American Little League officials realized that at some point during the off-season, someone had stolen a set of bleachers from Walter Flynn Field. The WLA volunteers searched the parks and ball fields in the city, as well as adjacent Lynn Woods and even along the edge of the reservoir, but to no avail. They were fortunate in that a Lynn resident, William McCarthy, donated funds to pay for their replacement.Little by little, Hinkle said improvements have been made to the park, with the bleachers being one of the highlights.In the event the bleachers are not located within a few weeks, Hinkle said the board of directors would have to decide whether it would apply for a future grant to secure a new set of seats.Although a reward has yet to be established, Hinkle urged anyone with information on the disappearance of the bleachers to call a hotline at 781-599-8690 and leave a detailed voice message.”We just ask that the bleachers be returned and questions won’t be asked,” she said. “The soccer season starts soon and the bleachers were supposed to be for parents and spectators to sit and not have to bring a chair. It just puts a damper on things.”