Thieves steal $5K in equipment from Burien school robotics team days before competition
A Highline School District robotics team was robbed of $5,000 worth of equipment after several people broke into their facility Sunday morning.
The coach of the Tekerz Robotics team, David Dammann, tells KIRO 7 not only is this frustrating for him, but his kids, too.
“They’re stealing from kids -- this is their hard work and hard time,” Damman said. “They are trying to grow themselves in life and they’re stealing from them.”
He says the same group came back on Monday and tried to take even more stuff. But thanks to an alert on his security system, he was able to contact the King County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies arrived fairly quickly and scared the burglars off. At least one suspect was taken into the custody while the rest got away, however, Dammann says these break-ins have set the teams back for their competition this weekend.
“It took every controller that they used. Every battery. Every joystick that they use to control the robots. So without that, they would not be able to compete this Saturday,” Dammann said.
“But I’d say it’s a major setback and I’m not super happy about that happening,” Co-Captain Ambrose said.
But he tells KIRO 7 once word got out about what happened, the community stepped up in a big way to help. Thanks to more than $5,000 in donation money and several quick orders for the parts, the team will be able to compete!
“The community responded within a day-and-a-half and we raised the $5,000 we need,” Dammann said.
Both Dammann and these students are thankful for the support from the community during a tough time.
“I think it just shows how much perseverance everyone on this team and our community has,” Zach, a team member, said.
If you would like to help out with any of the teams future projects, you can donate here.
