Costa Mesa girls’ basketball program in recovery mode after fundraising money stolen just before Christmas

Costa Mesa High girls’ basketball coach Lauren Coleman, her staff and players remain disappointed but are doing their best to move on after discovering a theft of nearly $1,100 from their program less than a week before Christmas.

Coleman wants to start a GoFundMe page with the hopes of gaining some money because funds raised from selling See’s Candies were stolen from the P.E. room inside the gym during the weekend of Dec. 19-20. Candy, worth up to around $50, was also taken, freshman girls’ basketball coach Barbara Whittaker said.

“It’s disrespectful more than anything,” said Coleman, who is in her first year and has been concentrating on rebuilding the Mustangs program. “Just to get the texts and pictures of what happened, everything inside of me just sank to the pit of my stomach. I knew that we had left the money in there. You just start imagining the worst and it was. It’s a horrible feeling. Horrible. To know the girls worked that hard and somebody just came in and took it away, it’s just not right.”

The money had been kept in a locked box, in a locked cabinet, in the P.E. room that was also locked, said Whittaker, a Costa Mesa alumna who also played basketball for the Mustangs.

The money was there because of a bad timing situation, Whittaker said, as the booster program’s treasurer was unable to pick up the money and deposit it into the bank before the weekend.

Costa Mesa Police Lt. Greg Scott said an unknown entry was used to access the office, and it’s possible a key was used.

Whittaker’s reaction mirrored Coleman’s but she seemed to take it more personal. She was the one who found the money missing on Dec. 21. Just before practice, she took pictures and called the police to file a report.

“Everyone said I used to play here and this was my school,” Whittaker, the former Trejo, said. “But this is my school. This is my school.”

The theft at the school’s gym wasn’t the only burglary that occurred on the campus, most likely during the same weekend.

Scott said the school’s cafeteria was found open, and cash and miscellaneous items were stolen, possibly during that same weekend. Also, on Wednesday a report was taken that two entries were made at the school’s former attendance room and also into a classroom off the school’s courtyard, Scott said. Scott would not disclose the items lost in those burglaries. He said it appeared a window had been pried open for entry.

“Shocked. Upset. Frustrated,” Whittaker described her reaction to discovering the theft at the gym. “I was torn. I knew I needed to file a report. We had practice and I had all three teams with me that day. I was trying to give the players as little information as possible. As soon as I had information for them, they looked heartbroken because that’s something we worked for. We were working hard.”

Coleman said the money was to be used for the program, mostly for summer basketball, “so the girls could get more work in with each other,” during the offseason.

“Hopefully we can get some of the money back [through donations],” Coleman said. “We don’t expect to get all of it back, but something is better than nothing.”

Whittaker said it’s possible that snacks were also taken, as items for the program’s concessions were also in the P.E. room. She said she also heard that the athletic trainer’s room was broken into and ankle and leg braces were missing.