Two stuffed lions, a Lego set and some expensive football boots were among the items taken in the âheistâ that hit England on the way to their World Cup base in Kansas City.
Having enjoyed a smooth, injury-free warm-weather training camp in Florida, the Football Association had to deal with an unexpected headache in the Midwest on Friday night.
Equipment was discovered missing upon arriving at their Swope Soccer Village base, with Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas saying âlocal, state and federalâ officials were working on the âheist in transit of English national team equipmentâ.
Jackson County prosecutor Melesa Johnson has charged two men in connection with the incident, with Mustafa Salik and Erfan Kamal each facing a count of receiving stolen property, carrying up to seven years in prison.
The pair drove the England team's equipment from their warm-weather facility in West Palm Beach to Kansas City, and a detective recovered an estimated $18,145.41 (ÂŁ13,530) worth of items.
Court documents show four pairs of ÂŁ250 boots and five pairs of ÂŁ170 shoes were allegedly found, along with some signed national team shirts, a ÂŁ160 World Cup ball and a pair of ÂŁ120 goalkeeper gloves.
Two stuffed lions and a Lego set of a Nike Air shoe were among the variety of other items.
The FA indicated earlier on Saturday that most of the training gear had been recovered ahead of the first session at Swope Soccer Village.
England back-up goalkeeper Dean Henderson said with a smile when asked if his boots and gloves made it to Kansas City: âYeah, thankfully. I think they got stolen but we got them back so itâs all good.â
Experienced defender Dan Burn found out about the incident through the media reports, joking he âwouldnât be able to move very muchâ if his boots had not turned up.
âWeâve not made a big deal out of it,â he said. âIâve got everything I need, so Iâm quite happy.
âWe know that stuff has been left to the police and as a group weâve not really spoken about that at all.â
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Asked if the FA had spoken to the players, Burn added: âTo be honest, itâs not really been spoken about, so I think that shows for us that theyâre not too worried about it as well.
âWeâre here to train. The first day out here, so itâs not disrupted our preparation.â
England kick-off their World Cup campaign against Croatia on Wednesday, and Kansas City mayor Lucas said: âI am grateful for the quick work of the Kansas City Police Department and the Prosecutorâs Office in resolving an investigation across several states, helping crime victims recover goods stolen in transit, and ensuring the accused will face prosecution.
âKansas Cityâs public safety leadership will continue to ensure all are safe and offenders will be held accountable swiftly for any misconduct.â
Jackson County prosecutor Johnson added: âJackson County will not tolerate any criminal activity that targets World Cup visitors, including the international teams that have travelled here to compete.
âWe thank the Kansas City Police Department and our on-call attorneys for their quick work investigating this incident and filing charges immediately. Our office is committed to holding these individuals accountable.â
Having enjoyed a smooth, injury-free warm-weather training camp in Florida, the Football Association had to deal with an unexpected headache in the Midwest on Friday night.
Equipment was discovered missing upon arriving at their Swope Soccer Village base, with Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas saying âlocal, state and federalâ officials were working on the âheist in transit of English national team equipmentâ.
Jackson County prosecutor Melesa Johnson has charged two men in connection with the incident, with Mustafa Salik and Erfan Kamal each facing a count of receiving stolen property, carrying up to seven years in prison.
The pair drove the England team's equipment from their warm-weather facility in West Palm Beach to Kansas City, and a detective recovered an estimated $18,145.41 (ÂŁ13,530) worth of items.
Court documents show four pairs of ÂŁ250 boots and five pairs of ÂŁ170 shoes were allegedly found, along with some signed national team shirts, a ÂŁ160 World Cup ball and a pair of ÂŁ120 goalkeeper gloves.
Two stuffed lions and a Lego set of a Nike Air shoe were among the variety of other items.
The FA indicated earlier on Saturday that most of the training gear had been recovered ahead of the first session at Swope Soccer Village.
England back-up goalkeeper Dean Henderson said with a smile when asked if his boots and gloves made it to Kansas City: âYeah, thankfully. I think they got stolen but we got them back so itâs all good.â
Experienced defender Dan Burn found out about the incident through the media reports, joking he âwouldnât be able to move very muchâ if his boots had not turned up.
âWeâve not made a big deal out of it,â he said. âIâve got everything I need, so Iâm quite happy.
âWe know that stuff has been left to the police and as a group weâve not really spoken about that at all.â
Subscribe free to our weekly newsletter for exclusive and original coverage from ITV News. Direct to your inbox every Friday morning.
Asked if the FA had spoken to the players, Burn added: âTo be honest, itâs not really been spoken about, so I think that shows for us that theyâre not too worried about it as well.
âWeâre here to train. The first day out here, so itâs not disrupted our preparation.â
England kick-off their World Cup campaign against Croatia on Wednesday, and Kansas City mayor Lucas said: âI am grateful for the quick work of the Kansas City Police Department and the Prosecutorâs Office in resolving an investigation across several states, helping crime victims recover goods stolen in transit, and ensuring the accused will face prosecution.
âKansas Cityâs public safety leadership will continue to ensure all are safe and offenders will be held accountable swiftly for any misconduct.â
Jackson County prosecutor Johnson added: âJackson County will not tolerate any criminal activity that targets World Cup visitors, including the international teams that have travelled here to compete.
âWe thank the Kansas City Police Department and our on-call attorneys for their quick work investigating this incident and filing charges immediately. Our office is committed to holding these individuals accountable.â
