It’s the first time in living memory that such a thing has happened at a high school football game at Auburn Memorial Stadium.
And then it happened again, next night, same thing, same place.
Thefts, first in the home-side locker room during Auburn Riverside’s Thursday game against Gig Harbor and on Friday during Auburn’s game against against rival Kent-Meridian.
“We had some thefts, so we are investigating, upping our security around the facility to ensure that nothing like that happens again,” Auburn Athletic Director Rob Swaim confirmed Tuesday afternoon.
Details, including how the thief or thieves got in — there were no signs of forced entry — what was taken, and a dollar figure for the losses were murky as of the time of Swaim’s comments.
The Ravens typically leave their street clothes at Riverside High School but they may bring their headphones, cellphones and the like to the stadium and secure them in the locker room.
Memorial Stadium is Auburn’s practice facility, so there are set places for the players to lock up their belongings.
Before both games, Swaim said, security had checked to ensure the locker room was secured.
“It was discovered Thursday night, and we had outdoor security check the locker rooms, every corridor, those types of things,” Swaim said. “We went into the locker room to check the doors to the park, make sure it was all secure.”
While school investigators have possible windows of time for the thefts, Swaim said, he noted the district doesn’t have anyone sitting in the locker room during the games because teams typically don’t want somebody listening in on what’s said.
Throughout this week’s Auburn Mountainview versus Bonney Lake game, Swaim said, there will be security in the park, in the hallways checking rooms, and Auburn Police patrolling the parking area.
Given existing parking issues and ongoing high school construction, Swaim noted, people park their cars everywhere.
“With football season starting before school officially starts, you have all kinds of people coming around. We’re doing everything we can to deter it. In the years that I’ve been here, we have never had any incident like this,” Swaim said.