By Jack Bellamy
The Tower
Grosse Pointe South HS
1st Place
Division 2, News Writing
News Story
After a crushing defeat to Anchor Bay, the freshmen boys football team ran into more unfortunate circumstances. They returned to the locker room to find their bags and lockers broken into and numerous items were missing.
On Oct. 5, the locker room off of the field was infiltrated. Phones and wallets were reported stolen, and because this theft was more than 100 dollars the Grosse Pointe Farms Police were notified.
According to Detective Lieutenant Rich Rosati, the police got two complaints about items stolen from the locker room during the game.
“We have two people who are both missing a cellphone, and one missing a wallet, including credit cards,” Rosati said. “The thieves tried to use the debit card at Kroger in the Village, but it was denied because they didn’t have the pin number. After a bunch of times trying it, the bank deactivated the card.”
According to Rosati, the police have footage of the perpetrators at Kroger and have reason to believe it was a student who committed the theft. They are attempting to identify them based off of the footage they have obtained.
“We viewed a video of the alleged perpetrators at the Kroger and they looked young,” Rosati said. “We think we know who they are. We have to get them identified, and we have pictures. Now we have to find someone who can find out who they are, and then we’ll close in on them.”
Bennett Smihal, a player on the freshman football team, was the one who had his wallet and debit card stolen. According to Smihal, he did not lock his locker prior to going on the field.
“I heard from the other side of the locker room that someone’s locker was open and their stuff was taken out. I then looked in my locker because I, unfortunately, didn’t lock it, so I opened it up and my bag wasn’t in there,” Smihal said. “I looked around the locker room and I found it in the stall area, and my phone and wallet weren’t in there.”
According to Moussa Hamka, this was not the first occurrence of theft in the locker room. He encourages students to keep their items in a locked locker. Anthony Frasier, a co-captain of South’s varsity soccer team, has had a problem with theft in the locker room in the past.
“There has been a couple of times where I have come in with my wallet, and I’ll put it in my bag and it will be under all my clothes,” Fraser said, “I’ll have like 20-25 dollars in there and I’ll come back and there’s like maybe 1 dollar, or nothing, left in there.”
In the Student Code of Conduct, which can be found in the student planner, theft is defined on page 28 as “any unauthorized taking or possessing of money or personal or public property of another on school premises, in a school-related vehicle, or at a school-sponsored activity or trip. So essentially taking something or going through something that is not yours.”
According to Hamka, the punishment in school for South for the perpetrators could fall anywhere from a warning to expulsion.
“The punishment varies; the handbook calls for anything from a warning, an intervention all the way through exclusion or expulsion depending on the severity of what was taken: the damage (that) was done, first offense, second offense, third offense (and) prior history,” Hamka said. “Whenever we look at a student, it’s always holistic, so we want to take a look at any prior disciplinary incidents as well.”
Rosati said the punishment from the police department would vary depending on the age of the perpetrator, whether they are a minor/juvenile or an adult who is 17 and older. The charge for the thefts would be larceny in a building, a felony.
“If they were adults, a felony would be sought for them and then they would eventually go to court here first and then downtown,” Rosati said. “These guys do look like they’re juveniles so (what) we would do is seek a petition with the probate court in Wayne County, Juvenile Division. They would go straight downtown, charged with a felony. Whatever punishment the court deem necessary would be enforced, potentially diversionary programs”
Ultimately, the main message from both Administration and the Grosse Pointe Farms police department is for students to lock their lockers.
According to both Hamka and Rosati, a large amount of these incidents could have been avoided if students stuff were stored in lockers.