This story will be updated as more information is confirmed.
During Rustbuster Invitational, a track and field meet hosted by MVHS on Saturday, March 3, a man walked onto the campus and stole the money box that was located at the entrance of the track. The box held all of the entrance fees for people attending the track meet that day. A few people who had witnessed the crime decided to run after the suspect while others stayed behind and immediately called the cops.
Deputy Corey Chao, MVHS’ school resource officer from the West Valley substation, was able to confirm that there was a theft but not a robbery. By definition, a robbery involves a physical interaction with another person, but in this case, there was no encounter between the suspect and anyone else.
“Male walked into the building. He walked in, grabbed the money box up at the front and took that and ran,” Deputy Chao said. “He ran into a vehicle where I believe somebody got his license plate and right now we’re still investigating this and trying to find him.”
The police have been able to track down the suspect’s address with the help of the license plate number and are planning to visit him over the weekend. Currently the investigation is an active, ongoing case. As rumors arose, there were some misconceptions surrounding the suspect. The police have confirmed that the suspect is not a student.
One of the people who saw the man take the box and run was MVHS parent volunteer Karen Flewelling, who remembers hearing people yelling at the man and chasing after him.
“‘Get him! Get him!’ Everybody was yelling ‘Get him,’” Flewelling said. “And they were all running and here up on the upper deck looking down. And he was booking it. And the police reported later that they found the box.”
Track and field head coach Kirk Flatow says that all the money raised from Rustbuster Invitational would be used to help pay for timers, starters, medals and other expenses at the meet..
“Rustbuster is not really a fundraiser,” Flatow said. “It’s just meant to be a really good early season track meet and a good experience for our young athletes and other athletes around the region. We’re not trying to make money out of it, we’re trying to break even.”
As of now, the police are still investigating to find out how much money was in the box and how much money was stolen.
