Crime Jun. 30, 2009 - 04:30AM JST ( 4 )

SAGA —

Two young males, a 20-year-old and a 19-year-old, were arrested for trespassing at a high school in Ureshino City early Saturday morning, and when police searched the youth’s homes over the weekend, they found nearly 400 baseball caps as well as other items, police said Sunday.

Kyohei Onihashi, a 20-year-old factory worker, and the 19-year-old boy, a certified care worker who cannot be named because he is a minor, were arrested at around 2 a.m. Saturday morning after police spotted the pair in the school grounds near the school’s baseball club’s facility. Police said they were patrolling the area after receiving reports of trespassing in three other schools in the vicinity this month.

Police searched the youths’ homes and seized 398 baseball caps, as well as jackets, gloves and balls. Both of the youths have admitted to stealing the items from schools, and police said they will likely pursue charges of theft.

Six schools in Saga Prefecture have had baseball caps and other items stolen from their baseball club facilities since August last year.

Tsuneomi Uchida, chairman of the Saga High School Baseball Federation, said of the incident: “Those caps have a lot of sweat and memories in them. I’d just like to see them returned to the boys.”

News reports