Global Courant 2023-05-04 23:28:48
According to the Kansas City (Mo.) Police Department, two USC journalism students covering the NFL draft were arrested as they boarded a plane back to Los Angeles for the theft of more than $1,000 in first-round cash. selection jerseys.
The students, Eric Lambkins II and Jude Ocañas, were in Missouri last week to cover the NFL version of Annenberg Media, a student-run multiplatform news channel that operates under the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. USC’s journalism school publication.
Video surveillance showed the two students connected to the NFL draft around 1:20 a.m. last Friday where they were denied entry, according to the Kansas City Police Department. The NFL identified them as Ocañas and Lambkins, police said.
According to police, Lambkins and Ocañas entered the “talent waiting room” with Lambkins holding a bag. They remained in the room for about five minutes before leaving with the bag looking “fuller,” police said.
The two were not given credentials to enter the “talent waiting room,” the vice president of security for the NFL told police.
According to the NFL, three jerseys were stolen from the room. The stolen items included a San Francisco 49ers jersey, a Dallas Cowboys jersey, and a Minnesota Vikings jersey. They all had the number “1” printed on the back and no player name.
“Used to be given to players selected in the first round of the NFL draft, these jerseys have deeply sentimental significance,” the Kansas City Police Department wrote. Craig Leach in a police report.
Police said officers arrested Lambkins and Ocañas just before the two were scheduled to board a flight back to Los Angeles.
Police searched the students’ luggage and found the Cowboys and 49ers jerseys, according to the statement of probabilities filed by the police. The missing Viking jersey was not listed among the recovered items.
Lambkinsa graduate student and native of Los Angeles, has spent the past two years working on sports coverage for the Culver City Observer and the Good News Radio and is a veteran of the United States Army.
Ocañas studies journalism, according to USC Annenberg Media.
The travel to cover the draft was paid for by the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.
“While we are limited by student privacy laws in what we can share, we are cooperating with authorities on this matter and will follow our internal processes regarding allegations of misconduct,” USC said in a statement.
Lambkins referred comments to his lawyer, David Bell, who declined to comment on the file on the case. Ocañas could not be reached for comment.
