By: Coco Xu

Ricky Alderete, 45, was sentenced to 15 years in prison on August 2, 2024, for stealing and destroying a Jackie Robinson statue outside McAdams Park in Wichita, Kansas, along with multiple other charges. Even though other people were involved in the crime, Alderete was the only one arrested.

Some people have raised concerns over the possibility that the theft was racially motivated, although most evidence proves otherwise. Investigators said in February that the main motive was profit; Alderete’s text messages to a friend describe his plans to sell a stolen chunk of bronze that weighed 250 to 350 pounds.

Surveillance footage from January 25, 2024, revealed two people sawing the statue and placing it inside a truck. Only the statue’s bronze feet were left untouched. A city worker later found pieces of the statue inside a burning garbage can. Sadly, the statue was broken beyond repair.

Alderete’s sentence includes 162 months for aggravated burglary, and 18 months for aggravated damage to property. The aggravated burglary charge comes from an incident on February 1, when Alderete broke into another person’s home while running from the police. Alderete was later found asleep inside the house and arrested. Alderete was also ordered to pay $41,500 in compensation to League 42, the children’s baseball league named after Robinson’s jersey number that installed the statue near its playing field.

“No matter the motivation of those who were involved, they were not only stealing from the community, they’re also stealing from the legacy of work that has been put in by the members of League 42,” Brandon Johnson, a member of the Wichita city council told BBC. After the theft, an online fundraiser raised nearly $200,000 to support League 42. Major League Baseball (M.L.B.) also contributed $100,000.

Robinson’s statue has an estimated value of $75,000. However, as a symbol of equality and progress, its true value can never be quantified.