Dodgers Buehler part of watch thefts at Santa Anita
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Police in Arcadia, Calif., have said that three reports were filed with the office of thefts or attempted thefts during the California Crown event run at Santa Anita on Sept. 28, including a luxury watch owned by Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler, according to police reports and a representative of Buehler.
One suspect has been arrested in the incidents, according to the Arcadia police, who said that Santa Anita security identified the individual after a patron reported that he had been approached by three people, one of whom “attempted to embrace the victim” while another attempted to remove his watch.
“Based on the initial investigation, it appears all three victims were targeted by different, organized groups of people whose sole purpose was to steal high-end watches through distraction and utilizing the large crowds at the event to create confusion,” the Arcadia police said in a statement.
The California Crown was inaugurated this year by Santa Anita’s parent company, 1/ST Racing, as an analog to its Pegasus World Championships day at Gulfstream Park in Florida. For the event, Santa Anita hosted musical acts and offered food promotions. The event drew an ontrack crowd of 21,812, the second-largest ontrack crowd of the year.
Buehler, a native of Lexington, Ky., who has owned microshares of horses, attended California Crown day with his wife, McKenzie, according to the statement from his management company, Excel Sports Management, and had his watch stolen after being surrounded by a “group of people” while walking from the paddock to his seats.
“Walker was unknowingly the victim of a snatch-and-grab robbery of his watch,” the statement said. “The incident was reported to police and is currently under investigation.”
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