21-Year-Old in Hot Water Over Pro Athlete Burglaries

A Seattle man was charged Friday with a string of burglaries at the homes of prominent current and former football and baseball players, marking the latest example of well-known athletes being targeted in home thefts. Earl Henderson Riley IV, 21, was charged with several counts of residential burglary in both occupied and unoccupied homes, along with first-degree robbery, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office. Prosecutors say Riley was the ringleader in a series of burglaries that started in February and involved stealing more than $6,000 in Louis Vuitton bags from Seattle Mariners pitcher Luis Castillo's home, and more than $194,000 in high-end purses and jewelry from the home of team center fielder Julio Rodriguez, per the AP and KING 5.

The thefts also involved taking several watches worth more than $100,000 from former Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman's home, as well as a burglary at the home of Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell, although nothing was stolen in that instance, according to court documents. Prosecutors say there was also an attempted burglary at baseball Hall of Famer Edgar Martinez's home. "All people deserve to feel safe in their homes, and our office will continue to hold people accountable for criminal behavior," King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion said in a statement.

There've been a slew of burglaries at the homes of well-known professional athletes across the US in recent months. The FBI has warned sports leagues about crime organizations targeting pros. The NFL and NBA have also issued security alerts after burglaries at the homes of such star athletes as Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. The charges in this case were the result of a monthslong investigation in which the county's prosecuting attorney's office worked with six police jurisdictions. Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Gary Ernsdorff said in a statement, however, that their work isn't over.

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"We still want to go and identify everybody who was involved and see if there are additional people that we can have sufficient evidence to charge," he said. Riley is being held in the King County Jail on $1 million bail and is expected to enter his initial plea in court during his arraignment June 16. He has another pending case in King County Superior Court in which he's charged with attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle and unlawful possession of a firearm.