Lakeland assistant football coach accused of stealing helmets worth $13,000

Azadrean Yarde arrested after allegedly stealing 36 helmets

An assistant football coach at Lakeland High has been arrested and charged with stealing 36 football helmets, valued at $13,000. / Lakeland High Football

The Polk County (Florida) Sheriff's Office has announced the arrest of Azadrean Yarde, an assistant football coach at Lakeland High School. Yarde stands accused of stealing 36 football helmets, valued at $13,000 from the Central Florida powerhouse program.

Lakeland, which has won 10 FHSAA football state championships, including one in each of the last three seasons, reported the helmets missing to the sheriff's office in April, according to a report by Fox13 News in Tampa. An investigation ensued and Yarde was observed stealing the helmets on surveillance video, as documented in the arrest affidavit.

The report further reveals that Yarde made several trips to a Play It Again Sports store in Tampa and sold the entire lot of helmets for less than $1,000, despite the fact that the school paid $380 for each helmet. He is now facing six felony charges, including grand theft, dealing stolen property and false verification of ownership.

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According to the sheriff, Yarde did not hide his identity to the store manager, stating he was authorized by the school to make the sale to make way for new helmets the school was allegedly acquiring.

"He told them who he was and gave them a proper ID," said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd. "He said he was an assistant football coach, and they were phasing out the helmets in favor of new helmets. It was a plausible story, but it was a lie."

The sheriff stated that the store did return most of the helmets to the school, but had already sold seven of them.

According to a Polk County spokesperson, Yarde was hired as a custodian at the school in 2022 and had been currently serving as an assistant coach with the football team. His employment is currently in the process of being terminated.

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