Inland Empire Little League team snack bar repeatedly targeted by vandals

LAKE ELSINORE, Calif. (KABC) -- The Lake Elsinore Little League can't seem to catch a break.

Not only was last year's season wiped out by COVID-19, but they lost use of their lakeside baseball field when a light pole toppled over during a windstorm, causing serious damage.

But their most serious setback occurred recently when their team snack bar was vandalized three times in the span of about a month, causing several thousand dollars in damage.

"Definitely it was malice," said Evan Gonzalez, one of the board members for the Lake Elsinore Little League. "To steal, and destroy what they couldn't steal. They did just that."

Gonzalez says the thief stole drinks, food, refrigerators and three pitching machines valued at $1,800 each. But they also vandalized practically everything else inside the snack bar, including taking their All-Star jerseys and pouring syrup on them.

They also defecated on the floor inside the snack bar.

"It smells horrible," said Gonzalez, who has reported the crimes to Lake Elsinore police.

"It's a setback, but we have a plan," said Gonzalez. "We've already had a lot of people reach out on our GoFundMe page, and local businesses like the Lake Elsinore Storm are offering to donate part of their proceeds this weekend to us."