$30,000 worth of equipment stolen from Little League team

CHANNELVIEW, TX (KTRK) -- The Channelview Little League is playing eight games on Friday night without much needed equipment, all thanks to thieves.

Deputies say thieves broke into one of the sheds on Thurssday and stole a machine called "The Gator," along with other equipment.

The Gator is a $20,000 transportation vehicle that carries equipment for the teams. The thieves took the Gator and all the equipment that was in it including bats, baseballs, catchers' mitts and more.

"My first reaction is, what kind of dirt bags. They come out here and take something, they think it's easy to take but they don't realize the rest of the impact," said coach and league board member Michael DeLeon.

DeLeon discovered the break-in on Thursday. Team officials reported the theft to the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

DeLeon says in addition to stealing the equipment, crooks also vandalized another shed at the park. Then on Friday morning, DeLeon and the Little League president, Hector Gonzalez, discovered a second break-in. Crooks broke the lock again and tried to steal the league's tractor, but didn't get away with it.

Gonzalez said all of the equipment was donated. Gonzalez said the thieves are hurting the kids the most.

"This is what they do when they get out of school. They get excited to get away from iPads, cell phones and so forth," Gonzalez said.

If you have seen any of the missing equipment, you're asked to call the Harris County Sheriff's Office.