Thousands Stolen From Lincoln Youth Football, Cheerleading Group

LINCOLN (CBS13) — Thousands of dollars have been stolen from a nonprofit organization that supports local youth football and cheerleaders.

More than $3,400 was taken from a cash box in Steve Jacobs' car in his garage early Thursday morning.

"Unfortunately, it looks like a crime of opportunity," he said.

He's the president of the youth football and cheerleading nonprofit organization Lincoln Junior Zebras.

"We have 93 cheerleaders and we have I believe 159 football players," he said.

The recent burglary hits pretty hard.

"That money is typically used for equipment purchasing or certification. Our helmets alone cost about $9,000 to certify just to make sure they're safe for play," he said.

Instead of closing the garage door, he believes either he or somebody in his family left it open. The cash box was sitting on the front seat of the family car.

"It was on the passenger side. So when we pull in we pull close to there, so it's not even easy access that side of the car," he said.

Along with that stolen money, a bunch of Oakland Raiders tickets were in the cashbox. As a nonprofit, they're able to purchase them wholesale and resell them for a profit.

The kids in the program are taking it hard.

"They're upset. They don't really quite understand why it happened, how it happened and we don't have a whole lot of good answers because someone felt they needed the money more than we did," he said.