The Wichita (Kan.) Police Department has arrested a man for the theft and destruction of a Jackie Robinson statue at a local park last month.
Police announced the arrest of Ricky Alderete, 45, on Tuesday and said Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett charged Alderete with felony theft (value over $25,000), aggravated criminal damage to property, identity theft and making false information.
Wichita police said they haven’t found evidence that the theft and destruction of the statue was a hate-motivated crime and believe “this theft was motivated by the financial gain of scrapping common metal.”
Lieutenant Aaron Moses said at a news conference Tuesday that there were at least three individuals at the park when the statue was taken and police “know it was taken somewhere where other individuals were present.”
Sergeant Trevor McDonald added that the police department’s investigation continues and they expect to make more arrests.
On Jan. 25, police responded to a call after the statue was discovered to be cut off its base and stolen. Five days later, the Wichita Fire Department found the statue’s pieces after receiving a call that morning about a trash can fire at a different park about 7 miles from where the statue was stolen.
The Robinson statue was installed at a baseball complex inside Wichita’s McAdams Park in 2021 by the League 42 Foundation, a youth baseball league in Wichita named for Robinson’s number.
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At the time of the incident, Wichita Police Department senior public information officer Andrew Ford said the statue “probably won’t be salvageable” and had not previously been vandalized.
Bob Lutz, the founder and CEO of League 42, said in January that “a brand new statue that looks exactly like the old one” will be erected at McAdams Park “in a matter of months.”
John Parsons, the artist who created the sculpture, died in 2022, but “the mold from his work is still viable, and the statue that reappears at McAdams Park will be the work of John Parsons,” Lutz said.
Robinson broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier in 1947 and remains one of the icons of the sport. His No. 42 is retired by every MLB team. His professional baseball career began about 200 miles from Wichita in Kansas City, Mo., where he played for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues.
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(Photo: Courtesy of League 42)
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2024-02-13 20:22:48Z
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