Posted on 12/11/2025 8:59:28 AM PST by MtnClimber
It should have been a good time for the teenage football team from Philadelphia.
They'd won their division championship, and this past Saturday, the whole team was in Polk County, Florida, for the tournament and championship game.
Now, let me take a minute to set the stage. Polk County is a beautiful place, and lots of folks visit from all over the country. There's one thing Polk County has that the rest of the country doesn't - a sheriff named Grady Judd, affectionately known as 'Sheriff Grady.'
He's a character, and none of it is an act - it's really him.
Here's a sample. [X video at link]
Okay. Back to the boys down from Philly for the football game.
...The juvenile suspects, part of the United Thoroughbreds under-14 team, were hours away from kickoff in the Prolifix Nationals tournament when they decided to take an Uber to the store in Davenport, Florida, on Dec. 6, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said.
Apparently, the lads had some free time on their hands and didn't use the best judgment in taking advantage of it, although they did act as a team.
On Saturday, Dec. 6, eight teenagers – who were in Polk County from Pennsylvania to compete in a football tournament, the sheriff's office said – were arrested for felony retail theft, which occurred at Posner Plaza in Davenport.
Around 11 a.m., the teenagers entered Dick’s Sporting Goods in two separate groups to commit fraud from the store, officials said. Their ages range from 14 to 15 years old. According to surveillance footage, the sheriff's office said the first group walked around the store looking at merchandise, while the second group made a purchase near the front of the store. After, the teens met in the middle of the school and began putting more store merchandise in the bag, deputies said.
Three teens took the bag past the point of sale and out of the store. The other five remained inside. The store manager contacted the sheriff's office about the theft and deputies detained all eight suspects.
One of their coaches said he'd gone to 'wake the boys up to pray,' and, lo and behold, they weren't there. Then he got a phone call, 'Come get us.'
...Bynes said he went to go wake the boys up for prayer when he found that eight of them were not in their beds.
“I got a phone call simultaneously saying that, 'Hey coach, can you come get us from from Dick Sporting Goods?' And when I got there, that's when I found out everything that was going on," Bynes recalled.
Kind of a surprise to him.
Every last lad was charged with a felony for conspiracy to commit retail theft and felony retail theft over $750 (a fellow has the receipts toted up here from the sheriff's office), they missed their championship game, and their team lost.
Sheriff Grady held a press conference and gave a blow-by-blow account of the youth team's effort to relieve Dick's Sporting Goods of $2296 in merchandise using the five-finger discount.
[X video of press briefing and store surveillance video at link]
Do watch it.
What surprised Sheriff Grady was the coach advocating for leniency. Coach Bynes obviously didn't know anything about Polk County and must have been working off what would normally happen in Philly.
...During the arrest, the team’s coach, Raekwon Bynes, was called to the store and began pleading with cops and store employees to release the players, Judd said.
“The coach who is responsible for them, you’d think he would be interested in holding them accountable and responsible, instead, he goes to the deputies and begs them not to take these young men into custody,” Judd said.
“Oh don’t arrest them, drop the charges, let them go,” the coach allegedly said, according to the sheriff.
“They were not taking bubble gum, one piece to chew. They stole over $2,000 worth of products. And when it was evident that they were going to be arrested, the coach says, ‘Don’t you guys have anything better to do than arrest these kids,'” Judd said.
DON'T YOU HAVE ANYTHING BETTER TO DO THAN ARREST THESE KIDS?
Well, dang - that's not the right way to talk to deputies, dude.
Sheriff Grady set him straight.
...“I don’t know how you do things in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but in Polk County, Florida, we lock you up for stealing, for being a thief,” he added.
A sportswriter for the Dallas Cowboys was spooling himself up to go on a racist rant over the youths having their photos and names splashed all over the news.
Clarence Hill Jr
@clarencehilljr
Why are they showing the names and mugshots of juveniles
He was swiftly schooled that in Florida, if you're 14 or older and charged with a felony, you're treated just like an adult, public picture and all. No more juvenile delinquent privileges.
The rules are different here. There are consequences for actions in other places.
...Bynes said the teens arrested are no longer on the team because they both aged out and also as a consequence of their actions.
And then there are CONSEQUENCES for actions.
...Florida authorities have made clear the state will pursue the charges according to its stricter theft laws, signaling that organized shoplifting won’t be treated as a minor offense.
We like those rules here.
And are pretty fond of Sheriff Grady.
“Coach Raekwon Burns”
Wait a minute. Coach Raekwon said he went to wake the boys up to ‘pray’ but the boys weren’t there. What time did the little precious angels not doing nuthin sneak out and get arrested. I have a feeling Coach Raekwon may have put in a ‘door dash’ shopping list with the angels.
The team name of United Thoroughbreds just cracks me up. Any body who knows about thoroughbred horse breeding knows that the sire/stud must be named on the certificate. I have my doubts about any of that crew having the first idea who was the sperm donor for their conception.
They aged out of the league, so they will all be promoted to sixth grade.
And why the heck are there nation-wide tournaments for 14-15 year-olds playing football? I wonder how that is financed.
What you want them to learn to read and do arithmetic?
The night of my son’s high school graduation, couple of his friends stole some golf carts and did $40k worth of damage on a golf course greens. One kid had his football scholarship revoked. I remember my son ask me what would I have done if he had been involved & I told him he’s be scrubbing toilets at the golf course until his debt was paid off.
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