$6,500 Worth Of Equipment Stolen From Fullerton Youth Football Team

FULLERTON (CBSLA) — An Orange County junior football and cheer team had thousands of dollars worth of sports gear stolen from a storage container.

As CBSLA's Michele Gile reports, thieves broke into the equipment containers over the weekend and stole $6,500 worth of property that the Fullerton Bears need to start the practice season.

"Everything that we as a youth volunteer league use they pretty much ransacked it," said volunteer Fred Jung.

"I was mad because why are people taking our stuff," said Bears player Gabriel Jaramillo. "Kids need that because we need it to play football."

"I don't think our league can afford to pay all of it back right now," said Bears player Kainoa Word.

When volunteers got to the field Sunday morning they found broken locks and smashed trophies.

Missing are four generators, a sound system, football hoodies and t-shirts and a massive fan for the huge Bears helmet that players run through at the beginning of each game.

The generators are needed in two weeks to light up the fireworks stands run by the Fullerton Bears. They earn money from fireworks sales to run the league and pay for scholarships crucially important for many of the kids.

"We have a lot of children who have fallen through the social net. Fallen through the cracks. And it is important that we help them," said Jung.

The Fullerton Bears Football & Cheer League has set up a GoFundMe page to help raise money to replace the equipment.