Photo by Emma Ruby.
Employees of the Kiest Tennis Center arrived to work on the chilly morning of Feb. 10 to broken glass and kicked in burglar bars. The tennis center’s pro shop had been broken into and robbed.
Among the stolen items were three Smart TVs, a Samsung tablet, a laptop, an iPad and iPad mini, candy, a cable box, $40 cash and 15 pairs of New Balance and Adidas tennis shoes.
A spokesperson with the Dallas Police Department said “an unknown male suspect” entered the tennis center and stole the significant amount of property.
According to Craig Cole, the center’s director of tennis, Dallas police took around eight hours to respond to the scene after a burglary call was made just before 9 a.m. Police arrived around 5:00 p.m.
Cole said staff members “had a hole in our building” through the 30-degree day until city maintenance workers came to patch up the broken glass around 1 p.m. The lack of urgency from city staff and police was “more frustrating than what actually even happened.”
Police do not have a suspect in custody and the investigation is ongoing, the spokesperson said.
Cole was upset to see a facility dedicated to fostering community targeted by a thief. The stolen iPads were regularly used by youth tennis players to log their attendance at games and lessons.
“It’s never a good thing for anyone, but to do it to someplace that is there for the community?” Cole said. “It’s just a shame for that to happen to a place like this.”
Several of the items, including a 55-inch TV and the register tablet, were Cole’s personal items he had brought to the facility. Other staff members also had personal items stolen, and some items belonged to the Dallas Tennis Association.
While Cole said he has requested increased security, such as more camera and lights, the only change to the facility so far is a sheet of wood patching up the glass that was broken during the break-in.
“It just stinks. We had three new kids come with their parents, one was a transplant family from California, come in to check out our program and the place was boarded up and you could tell,” Cole said. “We’re trying to piece it back together right now.”
Since the robbery, community members have reached out to the tennis center about donating items to replace what was stolen. One man donated a brand new TV to the center.
“It speaks volumes of the community,” Cole said.
The Kiest Tennis Center is open with courts available for rent, tennis lessons and youth and adult programming.
