Jeff, you and I know what would happen to a cue thief in the Philippines. And the "pulis" wouldn't be involved!![]()
After seeing those pictures of Rigo I couldn't resist taking a selfie of my new look.....![]()
Please be assured that the officers and members of the Santa Barbara Pool League are as shocked, dismayed, and outraged at this incident as the rest of you, and as soon as the Board is able to reconvene, the #1 agenda item will be deciding the pool league future of any and all of the players that were complicit in this incident.
Mark Griffin, Ozzy Reynolds, and Bill Stock are still very busy running the tournaments at the Rio, but when they are finished, I'm sure they will make a decision about the future BCAPL status of those involved. The Santa Barbara Pool League will abide by whatever decision they make.
It was a mistake to delete the initial two Facebook posts, as this made it appear that our league does not take this seriously. We take this matter VERY seriously. We would like to thank the individual who initially shared this thread on our Facebook page to let us know about this online AZB discussion.
We would also like to commend the person who witnessed the theft and was courageous enough to help catch the thief and have the stolen merchandise returned.
Chris Ackler
President
Santa Barbara Pool League
He's a very nice looking THIEF! I will guarantee you that's the not the first time he's stolen something. I suspect he already has a criminal record. It wouldn't be too hard to find out. His "teammates" look like a motley crew as well. That might even be his father or uncle next to him.
Jay, it looks like you made some harsh judgements from one team picture.
I'm fairly certain none of them are related. The fella you mentioned above is the team captain, Alfonso - a nice easy-going guy who has a carpet cleaning business. Ismael is a fun-loving sort who'll always come to your aid if he considers you his friend. Edmundo is about as friendly as anyone in the league. Andres, I don't know real well but never heard a bad remark about him. They all love playing pool and billiards, and happen to play both very well. We all affectionately call them the "Mexican Mafia", even though we all know they wouldn't hurt a fly.
Rigo, is a quiet young fella who I don't know real well either but I know he's one of the teams' top players.
The Santa Barbara Pool League had dozens of members at the CSI event. When we heard of this theft, our hearts just sank. At first there was disbelief. No one would've suspected anything like this. Saying we were shocked is putting it mildly. None of the league members I spoke with thinks he should get a pass on this. He made a bone-head mistake and needs to suffer the consequences - no maybe about it.
Ernie, I made my judgement based on what has been written about this incident on here. If all of these "nice" guys rallied to the defense of this "young fella" then shame on them. They should be the first to admonish him, not defend him for such behavior. What kind of example are they setting, hoping they can sweep it under the rug? It's like telling him "To bad you got caught, better luck next time."
My opinion remains he should be punished severely for stealing and if the allegations on here prove to be true, then this team should be banned from the BCA pool leagues. You are entitled to your opinion even though I disagree.
It's not my league so it's not my call. But one time, long ago, we caught a guy putting slugs in the tables at the U.S. Bar Table tourney in Reno. He was held overnight by hotel security until all the slot machines were emptied. Lucky for him, none of his slugs were found in there. The police were called in because it happened on casino property. They asked me if I wanted to prosecute him and I declined only because his wife and daughter were there with him. He was made to leave the property and forfeit his prize money. He got off easy imo.
P.S. Everyone said he was a nice guy too!
Jay, it looks like you made some harsh judgements from one team picture.
I'm fairly certain none of them are related. The fella you mentioned above is the team captain, Alfonso - a nice easy-going guy who has a carpet cleaning business. Ismael is a fun-loving sort who'll always come to your aid if he considers you his friend. Edmundo is about as friendly as anyone in the league. Andres, I don't know real well but never heard a bad remark about him. They all love playing pool and billiards, and happen to play both very well. We all affectionately call them the "Mexican Mafia", even though we all know they wouldn't hurt a fly.
Rigo, is a quiet young fella who I don't know real well either but I know he's one of the teams' top players.
The Santa Barbara Pool League had dozens of members at the CSI event. When we heard of this theft, our hearts just sank. At first there was disbelief. No one would've suspected anything like this. Saying we were shocked is putting it mildly. None of the league members I spoke with thinks he should get a pass on this. He made a bone-head mistake and needs to suffer the consequences - no maybe about it.
[...]
The only question that's left unanswered is which of the league operators from SBPL offered Mike a few hundred dollars to.....in Mike's own words...."make this go away?"
Mike told me he pressed charges and Rigo was arrested. The cue was $950 which was classified as petty theft. Had it been $1000 or more it would have been grand larceny.
Ernie -
As far as allegations go, I was standing in the booth 6 inches away from Gilbert when this all happened. I was the one that watched Rigo steal it, followed him to table 104 where they were about to start a match, watched him show it to tall his teammates, took Gilbert to that table where he grabbed the cue and still seen his price tag on it, watched Rigo confess to stealing the cue, watched his teammates offer to buy the cue on his behalf so Mike wouldn't press charges, heard Edmundo Burquez tell Mike "just let us buy it...it was an honest mistake", watched one of his other teammates stand in the isle and tell potential customers not to buy anything from Omega and watched Rio security take Rigo off the floor. I'm not sure which of these you would like to dispute or what you think may or may not be factual. The only question that's left unanswered is which of the league operators from SBPL offered Mike a few hundred dollars to.....in Mike's own words...."make this go away?"
I'm not looking to dispute any of this. I wasn't there to say it didn't happen as you described. I'm not sure if I know you, at least by your AZ handle, so I can't tell if I can totally accept your account of the situation. Like I said, Gilbert's view of this would help since I do know him as a straight-forward guy. Can you bring him forward?
Ideally, talking to the Moose team would answer many questions I have about this.
Mike told me he pressed charges and Rigo was arrested. The cue was $950 which was classified as petty theft. Had it been $1000 or more it would have been grand larceny.
Ernie -
As far as allegations go, I was standing in the booth 6 inches away from Gilbert when this all happened. I was the one that watched Rigo steal it, followed him to table 104 where they were about to start a match, watched him show it to tall his teammates, took Gilbert to that table where he grabbed the cue and still seen his price tag on it, watched Rigo confess to stealing the cue, watched his teammates offer to buy the cue on his behalf so Mike wouldn't press charges, heard Edmundo Burquez tell Mike "just let us buy it...it was an honest mistake", watched one of his other teammates stand in the isle and tell potential customers not to buy anything from Omega and watched Rio security take Rigo off the floor. I'm not sure which of these you would like to dispute or what you think may or may not be factual. The only question that's left unanswered is which of the league operators from SBPL offered Mike a few hundred dollars to.....in Mike's own words...."make this go away?"
Well a search of the Clark County Detention Centers, Inmate Data Base says this Mr. Moralas is not a guest there. Like I said he may have got a Ticket, and Promised to appear on the charges at some future date.
Then if he want to pled innocent, recanting his confession, he can ask for a trail. If the DA, or City Attorney wants to push for a trail, and not some plea bargain to some minor offense.
One of the problem with a trail in Sin City is both the Victim, and Whiteness would have to come to Sin City on their own dime, eat their own expenses. Because the victim, and whiteness do not reside in Sin City.
So justice is not swift or fair in many cases. As trail are expensive, and I expect Mr. Moralas don't have the funds to retain council, so the State of Nevada would eat his legal expenses.
Maybe the right thing to do is BAN HIM FOR LIFE from ever playing in a BCA League, or ever Playing in a BCAPL EVENT. But I am not sure how much punishment that would be. But it is something.
Had this happen in some far away land Mr. Moralas fate would have been different, and being PC he might be sitting in some dumpster at room temperature now like Rush use to say so and so has assume room temperature. When he announced the death of someone on the radio.
But this happen in the good old USA were you are only accused, until convicted. Like Jack Ruby was accused of shooting Lee Harvey Oswald, and was waiting trail for his alleged crime, when he died of cancer I think.
Even thought we all saw, or can see archival New footage of Ruby, or was it Rube shooting Lee Harvey Oswald. Ruby was entitled to a trail for his alleged crime.
Good News is there was a whiteness to what happened, and the Cue that was taken is back in the hand of the rightful owner, who hopefully had nothing else taken from his both during the BCAPL thing.
Ernie, what I would say to you since you seem to be so interested in what really happened, is why don't YOU look into it. Gilbert is not hard to find and I will be glad to give you a phone number to reach him. And since these players seem to be in your area you might want to have a talk with some of them. Please get back to us and let us know what you find out. I'll be right here if you need me.
P.S. I will add that Mike with Omega is a personal friend of mine and his word is good with me.