Fireworks thieves ruin team's holiday

If there's such a thing as the grinch who stole July Fourth, he lives in Petaluma.

Someone nearly cleaned out a fireworks stand Tuesday night that is run by a Petaluma youth baseball club, fizzling plans to buy new bats, catcher's gear and maybe uniforms, organizers said Wednesday.

The fireworks, which had a retail value of about $13,000, were stolen from a metal storage container. They were going to be sold to support the Petaluma Gamecocks, a club for 11- to 13-year-olds.

"I think it's really mean," said Nick Bostow, an 11-year-old outfielder from Petaluma. "We're just a baseball club trying to raise money. They might as well be stealing from kids."

Police are investigating the theft on Perry Lane, which took place late Tuesday or early Wednesday, but so far have made no arrests, Lt. Matt Stapleton said.

Officers are asking for the public's help in identifying any suspects.

"Fireworks would be pretty popular for young people to get their hands on, particularly such a large quantity," Stapleton said.

The stand is one of 18 that opened Saturday in Petaluma and will continue selling state-approved fireworks through the Fourth of July holiday.

Nearly all the stands are run by nonprofit groups, and many benefit youth clubs, the elderly and athletics.

Gamecocks coach and organizer Al Bostow, Nick's father, said it was the first year his group has sold fireworks to raise money.

The goal was to subsidize fees paid by the club's 48 members, who come from all over the county, and carry teams through the season that runs from August to December.

The club had invested about $7,000 in TNT-brand fireworks and was hoping to turn a profit of about $6,000, he said. The cache was stored in the locked metal box when the stand closed at 9 p.m. Tuesday.

But when volunteers returned Wednesday morning, the lock was missing and most of the fireworks were gone.

The club carried fire insurance but no theft insurance, Bostow said.

"It's pretty depressing," said Bostow, who works as a crane operator on the freeway-widening project in Santa Rosa. "We had high hopes for this."

He said the handful of parents who run the club will probably have to dig into their pockets to pay back the fireworks company. The merchandise was given to them on consignment, he said.

"It's kind of tough," Bostow said. "It's really tough on the kids."

The stand will remain open until the club sells the remaining supply or gets more from the company, if it can.

Players hanging out at the stand Wednesday said they were disappointed and angry someone would steal from the club.

Taylor Richardson, an 11-year-old second baseman from Petaluma, said whoever did it should have to return the fireworks and make "a pretty good donation of about $2,000 or something."

"It's just not fair to the kids and the people who put time into it," he said.

You can reach Staff Writer

Paul Payne at 762-7297 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com.