UNLV basketball, track athletes burglarized in separate incidents

Last week was an unlucky one for UNLV athletes off the court.

Members of UNLV's basketball and track teams were burglarized in separate incidents recently — while the teams were traveling to compete in other states.

The men's basketball team was hit first: While the team was playing the Boise State Broncos in Boise, Idaho, a UNLV-area apartment shared by several players was burglarized.

Las Vegas police were called at 2:02 a.m. Wednesday to Rebel Place Apartments, 3896 Swenson St., regarding a break-in. The front door had been kicked in, and the apartment had been "ransacked" sometime since the team left town Monday, said officer Michael Rodriguez, a Metropolitan Police Department spokesman. Clothing, cash and electronics, among other items, were taken, he said.

Lori Stevens said her son, Stephen Zimmerman Jr., who lives at the apartment, was shocked to find the apartment in disarray. It looked like someone had taken every drawer and emptied it on the floor, she added.

"It was a scary thing to come home to," she said.

The players found that their shoes and video game consoles had been stolen. Two men lost the cash they had stashed rent for rent. And Zimmerman discovered his McDonald's All American ring was gone.

An honor for the best of the best in high school basketball, McDonald's All American rings are awarded to a couple dozen graduating high school seniors each year. Zimmerman received his ring at a big gala in Chicago.

"It's really important to the boys that make it. It's a big honor," Stevens said. "Everything else is replaceable. He's really upset that it's gone."

The Rebel Place apartment building has no security cameras, but police thoroughly investigated the crime scene, Stevens said.

A UNLV track team was also victimized this week: The team's van was broken into in front of an Albuquerque, New Mexico, shopping mall.

The athletes' backpacks, containing "laptops and personal items," were reported stolen at the ABQ Uptown mall at 12:46 p.m. Wednesday, according to Tanner Trixier, an Albuquerque Police Department public information officer.

A UNLV official contacted Friday wasn't saying much.

"At this time, all we can say is that we're aware of the situation," the athletic department's Jeffrey Seals said.

— Contact Wesley Juhl at wjuhl@reviewjournal.com and 702-383-0391. Find him on Twitter: @WesJuhl