The great Wilmington Phillies ticket heist of 2013
A man named Scott Lascala received the tickets, signed for them, and then made some poor decisions.
But as far as heart-pounding criminal heists, there have been a frighteningly short supply.
Until now.
Wilmington's News Journal was ready for Phillies season - their recent purchase of 324 game tickets and 81 parking passes was more than indicative of this fact. All summer long, it would be a simple jaunt across the Woodlawn property to Philadelphia city limits, where apparently the paper would be making use of hundreds of tickets.
Days passed and the tickets never arrived. Well, they arrived, but not to the offices of the News Journal. No, on February 22, they showed up six miles down the road, under the simple red awning at 1209 Orange Street.
Here, a man named Scott Lascala received them, signed for them, and made some poor decisions.
On March 9, a News Journal employee discovered that a Craigslist ad selling Phillies tickets bore a striking resemblance to the tickets that never arrived at their offices. A couple of police officers disguised themselves as Phillies fans - presumably showing up at the man's apartment at Lea Boulevard and North Market Street with bad attitudes and a sack full of batteries - and proceeded to get to the bottom of things.
The police showed up at 1209 Orange Street and apprehended Lascala with little incident, after he had already given out or sold a portion of the tickets. Meanwhile, the Phillies flagged the tickets as invalid and natural order was restored to North Delaware.
Lascala was back on the streets after posting a $2,000 bond, but the damage has been done - anyone currently holding tickets for Citizen Bank Park's Diamond Club, Section G, Row 12, Seats 7, 8, 9, and 10 is at risk of being one of his victims.
Meanwhile, life in Wilmington returns to normal as poker games go on for longer than ever and banks acquire other banks. We can only hope Lascala has learned his lesson, and isn't waiting by the door at 1209 Orange Street with a pen and a smile, ready for the next delivery miscue to continue his terrifying crime spree...