How a Hamilton community responded when a thief stole bleachers from a kids' baseball field

Coach Chris Davies will now forever be known as the "bleacher guy."

The bleachers used by young players, who are a part of the Ancaster Little League, were stolen from the baseball park on Jerseyville Road in late June. Just weeks later, thanks to help from people in Ancaster, new ones were in place, Davies said. 

"Are you kidding me? What a community this is. It's unbelievable," Davies said. He's also director of promotions and special events for the league.

Davies was the first to notice the bleachers were gone, one Tuesday in June. Where the bleachers once sat, he found pliers on the ground.

He said he noticed nuts, bolts and silver clips and thought "what the heck is going on here?"

What was going on was "80 per cent of our bleacher boards were missing," Davies said.

Police said those bleachers were valued at over $10,000 and were stolen on June 27 from the Jerseyville Road park. 

A suspect was arrested and charged on July 20, but Const. Indy Bharaj said the investigation was ongoing "as there may have been others involved."

"We've had vandalism in our park before, and myself and one of the other executive members have always said, 'well, I guess we've seen it all now,' but you've never seen it all," said Davies.

The theft hit hard, he said, as the league was in the middle of their baseball season and had a big, four-day tournament coming up.

Shortly after reporting the theft to police, Davies said someone from the league got a phone call from a local scrap yard saying they had the bleachers.

"I was kind of excited, getting ready to put them back on," he said.

But the bleachers were so damaged and bent they were unusable, Davies said.

Police said the thieves used tools to remove the bleachers and transported them in