Maryland youth basketball coach, five teens charged in Florida theft case

A Maryland youth basketball coach and five teenage boys from the Washington, D.C. area were arrested in Polk County, Florida, after deputies said the group conspired to steal $37.60 in snacks and drinks from a 7-Eleven while in town for an AAU tournament.

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office said the 27-year-old coach and the teens were traveling to Davenport, Florida, as part of the Run It Up travel basketball program when investigators moved in on the alleged theft conspiracy. The sheriff’s office released a statement July 24 and posted video of the arrests on social media, putting the case in front of a county that has repeatedly used its own channels to publicize retail-theft arrests tied to visiting youth teams.

Fox 5 DC reported the arrests July 24, and WTOP later said the teens were arrested for “conspiring to steal merchandise” from the store. The boys were not identified by name in the information released publicly, and the sheriff’s office did not lay out separate charges for each person beyond the theft-conspiracy allegation.

Polk County sheriff’s officials have highlighted similar cases before. On Dec. 8, 2025, the agency said eight teens from Pennsylvania were arrested at Posner Park for felony retail theft while they were in Polk County for a football tournament. That pattern has made the county a recurring stage for arrests involving out-of-town sports teams passing through Florida on tournament weekends.

For Baltimore City and Maryland families who send teenagers into AAU travel circuits, the case lands in the same uncomfortable place: trust. When a coach is taking minors across state lines, the questions are not just about wins and losses, but about vetting, supervision, chaperones, and who is accountable when a team stop turns into a criminal investigation.