Thieves Target Local Archery Club, Group Asks for Help

Local archery organization the Pasadena Roving Archers suffered a devastating loss of equipment and supplies over the past weekend as the result of a Saturday night break-in of their storage facility, according to Club President Gary Spiers.

Spiers says the estimated losses of around $3,500 are not covered by insurance and due to the nature of items stolen – including all their arrows – the club will not be able to conduct regular classes for the first time in years, maybe decades.

The group believes that the thieves came well prepared, Spiers saying the thieves targeted specific equipment from the archery range, breaking into their storage shed with the use of portable power tools.

In an interview with Pasadena Now, Spiers said “they obviously knew what they were doing and they knew what they were after,”

According to Spiers, most of what was taken were equipment they use for their public instruction program, and that without the equipment, the Pasadena Roving Archers  will not be able to hold classes.

The Pasadena Roving Archers Public Instruction Program have been offered since 1972, and this would be one of the rare instances where they would not be able to hold classes.

In a response on the Archers’ Facebook page, Spiers gives the following specifics of the stolen equipment:

“This appears to have been targeted at specific portions of our inventory, PSE Optimas right and left handed, longbows, all the arrows (about 12-14 dozen aluminum shaft, mostly Easton Jazz in assorted lengths), some bow squares, a first aid kit, tool box and tools. Our head of instruction is comparing the list of remaining equipment against our inventory so we have quantities for the items taken.”

“Looking at what was taken, it would almost exactly what somebody would need to start an archery program,“ said Spiers, adding that “they took bows, arrows, they had taken quivers…they were taking the finger pads and arm guards, but they left those behind. Some of the equipment they attempted to take, they abandoned. So what we don’t know yet is if something spooked them, but it looks like they were intending to take everything they needed to basically run a small archery program, ” although Spiers also believes that they would most likely sell the stolen equipment.

The club is looking to the general public to help them recuperate from this loss. You may get in touch with them through their email address info@rovingarchers.com or through their Facebook page.

[UPDATED March 26, 2012 | 7:45 a.m.] Pasadena Roving Archers Club President Gary Spiers has announced a link for those wishing to donate to the Club to help make up for the loss described in this article. Here is the link:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=UPLE236YKNHLU