The FBI is investigating whether a transnational organized crime group may be responsible for a handful of recent burglaries at the homes of professional athletes in the Midwest, according to local police agencies and professional sports league memos.
Since September, there have been break-ins at the homes of NBA and NFL players in Kansas, Missouri, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ohio, according to local police departments. The most recent burglary occurred at the Ohio home of Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow on Monday while he was in Dallas playing the Cowboys, according to the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office. The county police did not confirm if the burglary at Burrow’s home is included in the federal investigation.
The FBI would not confirm or deny that an investigation was taking place. But in a memo last month, the NBA said that the FBI had briefed its security team and that it had “connected many of the home burglaries to transnational South American Theft Groups” or SATGs. The FBI described these as “well-organized, sophisticated rings that incorporate advanced techniques and technologies, including pre-surveillance, drones, and signal jamming devices,” according to the NBA memo, which was obtained by The New York Times.
These transnational groups go after cash and “items that can be resold on the black market, such as jewelry, watches, and luxury bags,” according to the memo.
In most cases, the memo said, home alarm systems were not activated and most of the homes were unoccupied at the time. Local police agencies said that in most cases burglars entered through back windows or sliding doors.
The NFL sent a memo to teams on Nov. 20 regarding the recent string of burglaries targeting professional athletes. It told players that law enforcement agencies said that “organized and skilled groups” seem to target the athletes’ homes on game days, and that the groups may be gathering information on potential victims through social media and public records. The NFL advised that players refrain from daily updates to social media, as well as images of expensive items or their homes.
The NFL’s security department is also in touch with the FBI regarding the burglaries, Roger Goodell, the league’s commissioner, said Wednesday during a meeting of NFL officials in Irving, Texas.
Among the athletes whose homes have been broken into are Kansas City Chiefs players Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, on Oct. 6 and Oct. 7, respectively, according to police reports obtained by The Athletic.
Jewelry worth hundreds of thousands of dollars was taken from Minnesota Timberwolves point guard Mike Conley Jr. on Sept. 15 during an afternoon break-in at his home, according to Chief Jason Nelson of the Medina Police Department in Minnesota. The next day, in a noontime burglary, more than $100,000 worth of property was stolen from the home of Karl-Anthony Towns, who was then a Timberwolves player and is now a center-forward with the New York Knicks, Nelson said.
Nelson said investigators in his department had been in contact with the FBI and other local law enforcement agencies in areas where athletes’ homes had been targeted.
The Knicks and the Timberwolves did not immediately respond to requests Wednesday for comment regarding the burglaries.
On Nov. 2, police responded to a burglary at the home of Bobby Portis, a forward for the Milwaukee Bucks, while he was playing the Cleveland Cavaliers, according to Chief Michael Gaynor of the Village of River Hills Police Department in Wisconsin.
Gaynor said at least three men broke into the home, and the police believe that a fourth drove a getaway vehicle. The burglars, who broke Portis’ back window, got away with more than $1 million worth of items from his bedroom.
The next day, Portis posted on Instagram, asking the public for help catching the burglars. His post included what appeared to be a video of two of the people breaking into his home.
Gaynor said there were similarities between this burglary and ones at the homes of other athletes. He said he was in touch with other local law enforcement agencies and the FBI about possible connections.
Felipe Rodriguez, an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice who used to investigate organized crime for the New York Police Department, said that the break-ins reminded him of the “Bling Ring,” a group from the early 2000s that targeted and broke into Hollywood homes and gained national notoriety.
Since the burglaries have occurred in Midwestern states, Rodriguez said he believed all signs point to an organized group rather than copycats.
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