Duluth, MN — A man has been arrested in connection with the theft of more than 30 hockey sticks belonging to the Mankato West hockey team, according to the Duluth Police Department.
On Monday, 23-year-old Cole Saice was arrested on pending felony theft charges. The investigation started after officers responded to a theft report on Saturday morning. The Mankato West team had stored their hockey sticks on their team bus parked outside their downtown Duluth hotel on Friday afternoon, but when they went to unload the gear for their game against Anoka High School the next morning, they discovered the sticks were missing. The game was subsequently postponed.
Later that evening, at around 10:50 p.m., Duluth officers spotted a man walking on East 3rd Street carrying several of the stolen sticks. The man claimed to have found the items behind the Churches United in Ministry (CHUM) Center, but did not match the suspect’s description. He was arrested for an unrelated warrant.
Saice was arrested the following day, and police are working to return the stolen hockey sticks to the team.
