A 23-year-old Duluth man was arrested Monday in connection with the weekend theft of more than 30 hockey sticks belonging to the Mankato West High School boys hockey team.
The Scarlets stored their hockey sticks in the team bus parked near their hotel in downtown Duluth on Friday afternoon. The team discovered the sticks had been swiped when they unloaded gear for their game against Anoka High School early Saturday morning.
The theft forced the team to postpone its game against Anoka in the Heritage Holiday Classic tournament.
The theft was reported to Duluth Police shortly before 11 a.m. Saturday, and about 12 hours later, Duluth officers saw a man walking in the 100 block of East 3rd Street with “a few of the items,” according to a Duluth Police news release. The man said he found the items behind the Chum homeless shelter. The man didn’t match the description of the suspect police were looking for, but he was jailed on an unrelated warrant.
On Monday, police announced they arrested a 23-year-old man on suspicion of felony theft, and officers returned the hockey sticks to the Mankato West team. The Minnesota Star Tribune typically doesn’t identify suspects before they are charged.
No other details about the arrest were immediately available Monday afternoon.
Tom Pearson, athletic director for tournament host Denfeld High School, told the Star Tribune Saturday the stick theft put a damper on the tournament, for which fans traveled a long way to watch. The game against Anoka will be rescheduled.
Before losing their sticks, Mankato West had played and lost two close games — 2-1 in overtime to Superior High School on Thursday and 4-3 to Apple Valley/Burnsville on Friday.
