Oleai Sports Complex is burglarized and vandalized

The Oleai Sports Complex was burglarized and vandalized over the weekend, with the perpetrator(s) taking over $1,000 worth of equipment used to maintain the facilities.

The Northern Marianas Sports Association, which manages the sports complex, expressed disappointment over the incident, saying it has been improving the facility for the community to enjoy and for their safety in the past three years and that the equipment that were stolen were being used for maintenance of the facility.

In an interview with Nathan Guerrero, facilities supervisor for the Oleai Sports Complex, he said that one of the sports complex’s storage containers was broken into over the weekend with the perpetrator(s) taking equipment specifically used to maintain the fields like bush cutters, leaf blowers, and more. Guerrero said they continue to inventory the equipment to find out what else were stolen over the weekend.

“This morning, one of our staff came into work and was making his way to our storage container where we hold the stuff used to maintain the fields. When he got to the container, he noticed that one of the container doors was open and the padlock had been broken. As he was going in, he realized that some of our stuff was missing like bush cutters, leaf blowers, things used to maintain the field. Immediately he called the Department of Public Safety to investigate the scene. They wrapped up their preliminary investigation around 10am,” he said.

When asked as to when they suspect the incident happened, Guerrero said it most likely happened over the weekend.

“We didn’t have any event this weekend, so we are thinking that the incident happened during the weekend when nobody was here,” Guerrero said.

Aside from the burglary, the perpetrator(s) also vandalized and spray-painted the storage containers and the Little League Baseball field, which was supposed to undergo improvements this week.

Guerrero said it was saddening to see the current state of the facilities.

“We don’t have suspects yet [but] whoever did this also vandalized the Little League field, which we were supposed to start painting, but it’s tough to make these improvements if people will continue to vandalize the facilities. It costs a lot of money. Times are hard for everybody and we can’t afford to keep painting over vandalism,” he said.

Saipan Tribune learned this burglary was the second such incident, with the first one happening around December last year.

“This is the second burglary. The first incident happened last Dec. 25, 2022. The suspects robbed the baseball storage box used to hold our baseball equipment that were used during the 2022 Pacific Mini Games. It’s tough because these equipment are used for the community. It’s used by NMSA to host tournaments for the community, especially our kids who will participate in upcoming leagues like baseball, track and field, etc.,” he said.

Fortunately, following the December incident, the sports complex was able to get most of the stolen items back.

“We are still waiting to retrieve more. But most of the stolen items from the December incident, we have gotten back,” said Guerrero. He did not elaborate.