Hueneme Still Steaming After High Desert Robbery : High school football: Parents and players cry foul after Palmdale does not reimburse team for $2,000 worth of property taken during locker room burglary.

Hueneme High parents and football players were outraged Tuesday by news that Palmdale High will not reimburse them for $2,000 worth of items stolen from a locker room during a game at Palmdale.

“I have had calls from a lot of irate parents,” said Jim Lane, the Hueneme athletic director.

Palmdale administrators informed Hueneme this week that although the school will beef up security at future games, they have no means of compensating players for stolen items.

Class rings, portable CD players, watches, shoes and clothing belonging to Hueneme players were taken during the first half of Palmdale’s 28-6 victory over Hueneme on Sept. 8. The theft is being investigated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

“There isn’t a school I know of that would have the ability to repay something like this,” said Reid Wagner, Palmdale athletic director. “I do feel responsible for what happened, but we are still doing the investigation. Perhaps it wasn’t something a Palmdale kid did.”

A theft of such magnitude from a locker room is extremely rare, according to Southern Section official Bill Clark, who has received reports on the incident from Hueneme and Palmdale.

“To say things are seldom stolen out of locker rooms is not correct, but this one is different because of the amount of things taken,” Clark said. “In my 15-year tenure in this office, it is the first time I’ve come across it.”

Although the investigation is in “the rumor and innuendo stage,” according to Sheriff’s Sgt. Greg Collins, leads have surfaced.

Hueneme parents believe Palmdale should reimburse their boys for the stolen items, but they are not sure how to collect.

“I think they should pay the kids back because kids’ belongings should be safe at another school,” said Endya Wallace, mother of Hueneme quarterback George Jones, who had shoes and a portable CD player stolen.

Lane, the Hueneme athletic director, is exploring ways to collect, including taking Palmdale to small claims court.

“I’m going to find out what recourse we have,” Lane said. “I owe that to the kids and families who lost their stuff.”

Lane, who accompanied the team to the game, said the players planned to leave their belongings on the team bus, but Palmdale coaches encouraged them to bring everything inside the locker room.

“They assured us we didn’t need to leave valuables on the bus,” Lane said.

Hueneme junior varsity coach Marcus Sherman said that after his players dressed immediately before the varsity game, he informed Palmdale security personnel that the door to the locker room was unlocked.

“We told a guy wearing a Palmdale shirt who had a walkie-talkie,” Sherman said. “I escorted our players to the varsity game, but the [locker room] door was wide open.”

Clark, the Southern Section official, said that a host school should provide security, but visitors must also safeguard against theft.

“When teams play at Anaheim Stadium [in Southern Section finals], we tell them to bring a valuables bag and take it on the field with them,” he said.