Seven boys charged with stealing from Brother Rice football team

Seven boys have been charged with stealing phones and other items from the Brother Rice football team’s locker room while they played a game last week at a south suburban high school.

Brother Rice assistant coach Randy Johnson told police that six of his players had items stolen from their book bags, which were stored in the visitor locker room Crete-Monee High School, according to Crete police.

Officers were called about 10:42 p.m. Sept. 1 to the school at 1515 W. Exchange St., according to Crete police. That was shortly after the home team had defeated the visiting Crusaders 33-25.

Items stolen included six iPhones, two pairs of Beats headphones and one pair of pants, according to police.

On Wednesday, investigators “received pertinent information” and identified seven boys “as being directly involved with the theft of this property,” police said.

They have been charged as juveniles with burglary to state-supported property, theft over $500, and trespass to state-supported property, according to police.

The suspects were petitioned to Will County Juvenile Court and released to their parents’ custody pending court proceedings, police said. The Crete-Monee School District is also “proceeding with school disciplinary proceedings against these juveniles,” all of whom are students in the district.

Two of the stolen phones were recovered during the investigation, and authorities are trying to identify their owners, police said.