Crime at the court: Pickleball Lincoln revamps security after $1,200 net box is stolen

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Pickleball and crime may not be a common pairing, but that’s exactly what occurred at Roberts Park in Lincoln last Friday.

A 500-pound storage box — used to hold extra pickleball nets, gear and first aid supplies — was stolen from outside of the court.

“This is the first time anything like this has happened to us,” said Joel Houston, President of Pickleball Lincoln. “We have boxes like this all over the city that people use almost every day.”

He says the group considers themselves fortunate that the theft has never happened before, especially since the pickleball community has been growing.

“Lincoln is considered a pickleball hotspot in the nation,” said Houston. “It’s an exploding community that has become very diverse. It used to be everyone who played pickleball knew each other and it was tight knit, but now it’s grown so big that most of us don’t know each other.”

He says they strive to keep that sense of community and are taking steps to keep the boxes grounded for their members.

Lincoln Parks and Recreation used special anchors to bolt these containers to the ground when first installing them.

Houston says they are now reinstalling them with the same anchors, but adding an extra layer of protection.

“We added some steel cabling to make it harder in the future, and we’re going to add some additional weight inside to make it even heavier to deter future theft,” he said.

Despite the precautions, the question still remains: Why would someone take the nets?

Houston said it’s probably not about the gear itself, but made a guess that the intent was to steal the box, which is valued at nearly $1,200.

“That box is normally used at construction sites, so maybe somebody wanted to use it for what it was actually designed for,” he said.

A case has been opened with the Lincoln Police Department but there are no leads at this time.

Houston made a plea to the community, speaking to anyone in the Roberts Park area to report any tips they may have.

“We would love to piece this together and maybe get some of our property back.”