LOS ANGELES – Thieves surrounded Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Walker Buehler last month outside a horse racing track in a Los Angeles suburb and slipped an expensive watch off his arm as he jostled through the crowd, police said Tuesday. It came weeks after another professional athlete in California was the victim of a brazen mugging.
Buehler was not threatened during the theft Sept. 28 at the Santa Anita Park horse racing track in Arcadia, police there said. They are investigating two similar episodes the same day that officials say were by organized groups who steal high-end watches in large crowds during events.
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Buehler was at the track that day with his wife, McKenzie, and his teammate, starting pitcher Jack Flaherty, to attend the inaugural California Crown races. Buehler, a Lexington, Kentucky, native, is a major fan of the sport.
While walking from the paddock to his seat, Buehler was “unknowingly the victim of a snatch and grab robbery of his watch," his agency, Excel Sports Management, said in a statement.
“We are grateful Walker and McKenzie were not harmed and Walker is focused on the playoffs,” the agency said.
The Dodgers declined to comment and referred media to the Arcadia police.
In one of the three episodes of stolen watches being investigated that day, police arrested a 24-year-old man from Los Angeles. Police said the value of the watches stolen was $100,000 for one and $250,000 for the other. They did not say which one was Buehler's.
The theft came days after Buehler's last regular-season game and a week before the Dodgers began the National League Divisional Series against the San Diego Padres on Saturday. Buehler is slated to start Game 3 of the series against the Padres on Tuesday night in San Diego.
On Aug. 31, San Francisco 49ers rookie Ricky Pearsall was walking alone to his car after shopping at luxury stores in San Francisco's Union Square when the NFL player was robbed at gunpoint by a teenager who took his Rolex watch and other expensive jewelry, prosecutors said.
A struggle ensued, and gunfire from the teen struck both Pearsall and the suspect, who was shot in the arm. Pearsall was shot through the chest at close range, officials said. His mother, Erin Pearsall, posted on social media that the bullet went through the right side of her son’s chest and out his back without striking vital organs. He was released from the hospital a day later.
Smash-and-grab thefts have been captured on videos in cities from Los Angeles to San Francisco and gone viral, feeding widespread concern about crime in the state. Voters will decide on a ballot measure that would roll back parts of a 2014 law that made many nonviolent thefts misdemeanors instead of felonies.
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Associated Press reporter Beth Harris contributed to this report.