Sep 9, 2009 6:35 pm US/Eastern
Cal Ripken's '8' Stolen From Outside Camden Yards
Reporting
Adam May
BALTIMORE (WJZ/AP) ―
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Police say four young men stole the four-foot aluminum No. 8 that commemorates Orioles great Cal Ripken outside Camden Yards.
Baltimore Sun
A large aluminum No. 8 that commemorates Cal Ripken's career was stolen from outside Camden Yards Tuesday night.
Police say the crime was caught on surveillance cameras.
Adam May reports the video helped lead police to the culprits.
The retired numbers in front of Camden Yards are very popular with fans.
They include Brooks Robinson's 5, Jim Palmer's 22 and Eddie Murray's 33.
The most popular with many fans is Cal Ripken, but his 8 was stolen and vandalized.
"I looked over, noticed something was wrong and said, 'Oh my goodness, they stole the number,'" said John Ziemann, deputy director of Sports Legends Museum.
Ripken's 8, unveiled in 2001, was taken and ripped apart with only the bottom sheet of aluminum left.
"We had two witnesses observe four white males take the statue from Camden Yards and drive off," said Baltimore City Police spokesman, Anthony Guglielmi.
It turned out to be an easy case for police.
Less than an hour after the witnesses came forward, police stumbled upon the statue on East Lombard St. when they were responding to a group of intoxicated men acting disorderly.
"Very plain view, sitting in the back of a pick-up truck. Case closed," said Guglielmi.
The suspects were identified as Gary Parker, 19, of Baltimore; Matthew Rayner, 19, of Chase; Patrick Reynolds, 18, of Middle River; and Jason Stoneberner, 19, of Essex.
They were being held at the city's Central Booking and Intake Center on charges of felony theft and destruction of property, police said. There was no indication they had attorneys.
Meanwhile, baseball fans snapped pictures of the crime.
"It's devastating. I was always a Ripken fan. He was great for the sport of baseball. Any destruction is not good," said Andrew Hammer.
Police returned the monument to the Orioles on Wednesday after taking photos and examining it for evidence.
Right now, Camden Yards doesn't know if they have to replace the statue or if they can fix it. That's because the thieves ripped apart the welding seams, so it's very damaged.
Orioles spokesman Monica Barlow said the team had no comment about the theft because it was a police matter. She said she did not know when the monument would be reinstalled.
The Orioles began a five-game road trip with a 10-0 loss against Boston Tuesday night, and will return home Monday.
Ripken had no comment on the theft.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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