Copper thieves target Little League Baseball field in Fresno County

FRESNO COUNTY. (KFSN) -- This weekend thieves hit a Little League Baseball field in Fresno County twice, stealing hundreds of dollars in copper that is now costing thousands of dollars to repair.

For neighbors, it's called the field of dreams, but for the second time in two days dreams at the Easton-Caruthers Baseball Field in Raisin City have been ruined.

Parents say copper thieves came out sometime Saturday morning, targeting the stadium lights and scoreboard and stripping them of wire.

"They just came in with cutters and cut wire whichever way they could to see if they could pull it out," board member Ryan Rasmussen said.

The damage left board members with a powerless office just a few days before the kids take to the field.

"We have no electricity in the office and no way to power the sprinklers," Rasmussen said.

Then a day later, the Little League ball fields were hit again, leaving an even bigger mess for parents.

"It's actually my youngest son's birthday today," parent Steven Kellerhauls said. "And he was having a party this afternoon that I was unable to make it to because I'm here fixing the ballpark.

Hector Pino played baseball at the field 20 years ago, when he heard about the vandalism he dropped his plans to help rebuild what gave him purpose in life. "This is for the kids," he said. "And for a few hundred bucks, for somebody to come out and steal it just doesn't make sense not at all."

Parents say they are not going to strike out anymore.

On Sunday, they installed surveillance cameras around the park catch the copper wire thieves.