Burglars snatched Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler's watch, police say

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Thieves cornered Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Walker Buehler last month outside a suburban Los Angeles racetrack and ripped an expensive watch from his wrist, police said Tuesday. It came a few weeks later Another professional athlete California was the victim of a brazen robbery.

Buehler was not threatened during the Sept. 28 robbery at the Santa Anita Park race track in Arcadia, police there said. They are investigating two similar episodes on the same day that officials say organized gangs stole high-end watches amid large crowds during the event.

The theft occurred days after Buehler's last regular-season game and a week before the Dodgers started. National League Divisional Series Saturday against the San Diego Padres. Buehler is scheduled to start Game 3 of the series against the Padres on Tuesday night in San Diego.

On August 31, San Francisco 49ers rookie Ricky Pearsall was walking alone to his car after shopping at a luxury store in San Francisco's Union Square when the NFL player was robbed at gunpoint. a teenager Those who took his Rolex watch and other expensive jewelry, prosecutors said.

A struggle ensued, and the teenager's gunshot struck both Pearsall and the suspect, who was shot in the arm. Pearsall was shot at close range, officials said. His mother, Erin Pearsall, posted on social media that the bullet went through the right side of her son's chest and out of his back without hitting vital organs. He was discharged from the hospital a day later.

Smash-and-grab burglaries have been captured on video and gone viral in cities from Los Angeles to San Francisco, sparking widespread concern about crime in the state. Voters will decide on a ballot measure that would roll back parts of a 2014 law that made many nonviolent burglaries misdemeanors instead of felonies.