EVERETT – The Cascade High School boys basketball team strives to stop opponents from stealing the ball on the court.
The Bruins recently showed they also know how to foil theft in everyday life.
During the afternoon of Jan. 11, Cascade coach Kevin Rohrich and 12 varsity players stopped a man who allegedly tried to take more than $250 worth of merchandise and cash from Cascade’s varsity sports locker room.
The incident happened between 3 and 4 p.m. after the team had gathered for a meeting. It ended with Rohrich and the Bruins chasing the suspect across the campus.
“It was just so crazy,” Rohrich said. “The whole school was talking about it. … It was something the players will remember 10 years from now.”
It all started when a 21-year old Everett man emerged from the varsity locker room – which is off-limits to everyone but Bruins players and coaches – and stumbled upon the meeting. No one recognized the man, who seemed edgy and carried a bulging backpack, Rohrich said.
After Rohrich asked the man some questions, he fled and led the players and their coach on a chase across campus. “I hadn’t sprinted that far in years,” Rohrich said.
Cascade junior guard Dirk Snel, with senior teammate Sean Carter on his heels, eventually wrestled the man to the ground near the softball field.
The man wriggled free and made one last attempt to escape, climbing a nearby fence, but he trapped himself in a murky drainage pond.
Rohrich called police, who detained the man and returned the stolen property, which included two iPods, cash and clothing.
The suspect, who had used bolt cutters to break into several lockers, was booked into the Snohomish County Jail on suspicion of second-degree burglary and awaits a court appearance, according to Everett Police Department Capt. Mike Campbell.
Police don’t encourage citizens to approach or chase criminals for safety reasons, Campbell said, but he praised the actions of the Cascade players and their coach.
“It’s some good young men out there,” Campbell said, “and we appreciated their efforts.”
Based on Snel’s heroics, Rohrich joked that he expects his crime-fighting guard to hustle more on the court.
“Dirk’s got to get back on defense a little bit quicker,” he said. “Now we know how fast he can run.”
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