Harold and Donna Pearce have been involved in one way or another with the Bellwood-Antis Minor League for more than a decade.
In addition to his coaching duties, Mr. Pearce and his wife have run the concession stand at the field. For the second time in recent years, the business has been burglarized.
“It had to be a small person,” said Mrs. Pearce.
She explained how she believes the latest burglary occurred. She said it happened between 10 p.m. on Saturday night and Monday morning.
Someone climbed up a locked metal gate and then entered the door to the concession stand. That door was found locked when the Pearces arrived on the scene Monday morning.
Mr. Pearce indicated it wouldn’t be hard for a thief to get the main door open. The Pearces believed it had to be a small person, most likely a child, since the space between the metal gate and the main door would not allow a larger person to enter it.
The Pearces believe the culprit had assistance to climb the gate and slide down and enter the main door of the concession stand.
When the Pearces entered the stand, they found boxes of candy and soda had been removed over the weekend. They deduced that the person who entered the stand passed the items through the gate to other accomplices.
The Pearces said the stand was burglarized last year. That incident was much more severe as more damage was done when the burglars entered the stand by breaking in from the back and many more items were removed.
Mr. Pearce indicated those involved this time took some of their ill-gotten gain to an area behind the walkway that goes over the railroad tracks in Bellwood.
He found candy wrappers and some empty soda bottles spread across a grassy filed behind a pillar below the walkway.
They asked the public for help. They suggested a parent or a neighbor might have noticed a child who possessed an unusual amount of candy over the weekend.
The incident at the Duane Hollen, Jr. Memorial Field was reported to and investigated by the Bellwood Borough Police.
