This article appeared in the November 2013 issue of the USBF Western Sector Newsletter.

This month’s column deals with a fundamental rule.  In fact the rule doesn’t have anything to do with bocce rules, or does it?  The rule in question comes from the Ten Commandments found in the Bible in the Book of Exodus (20: 2-17) and states:  “Thou shalt not steal.”  This is a very old rule and has been made into many laws by every governmental entity on earth. The rule has been in effect since mankind became civilized and even pre-dates the Bible.  Also, it is not very nice to take property belonging to others!

Why is this column quoting from the Bible, you might ask?  First, a little background is in order.  The Town of Los Gatos has a very nice bocce court located in Oak Meadow Park a couple of blocks north of Campo di Bocce.  The Town rents the court out to its residents for parties, family reunions, and other social events.  Members of the Los Gatos Bocce Club (LGBC) have maintained the court for the Town for many years.  In exchange for this service, the Town gave the club a standing reservation to use the court at no charge every Saturday morning until noon. The court is granite based and used to have an oyster shell surface.  Several years ago at the request of the LGBC, the Town had a synthetic surface installed on the court by Mr. Aurelio Colleoni, the gentleman from Italy who has installed many such surfaces all over the United States including Campo di Bocce in Los Gatos and in Livermore.  The court only requires minimal maintenance now.  Most of the work involves using a leaf blower to clean the court and some raking and sweeping of the grounds.

At the north end of the court is a shack used to store equipment such as the leaf blower, microwave oven, cords, various tools, and some generic bocce balls that are stored in a basket for public use.  About thirteen years ago a club member donated an old safe that he no longer had use for.  The LGBC had just purchased some new Perfetta balls and decided to keep them and a couple of pallinos in the donated safe.

On the Saturday of this recent Labor Day weekend, LGBC members arrived at the park to enjoy their usual spirited weekly game of raffa.  Lo and behold, they found the chain link gate unlocked and the door to the shack also unlocked.  The safe was gone!  Thieves, crooks, or burglars using a key had opened the city locks and carted off the two hundred pound safe.  It is a shame that they did not have a yegg with them.  It would have made it a lot easier for them to open the safe in the shack and flee with their new treasure without the added weight of the safe.  The locks were found in the bushes where they landed after being tossed away by the perps.  No one knows how they obtained a key, but keys do have the ability to be duplicated over and over and over again!  One or more of the perps has a liking for Camel cigarettes as some butts were found at the scene of the crime.

The good news is that nothing else was taken.  The value of the items still in the shack was much greater than the thirteen year old scratched up, dinged, soon to be replaced, not to be missed, beat up old balls. The club had decided only a week or two before the heist to replace the aging orbs.

The lessons that the LGBC learned from this incident are:

1) Hide the new balls in plain sight inside the shack.

2) Safes should be used to store diamonds, rubies, gems, jewels, and lots of cash.

3) Safes are an attractive target for bad guys.

4) Do not store the new balls inside a safe.

5) Change the lock on the shack.

Members of the club are looking for another old safe to replace the one that has gone missing.  No, they will not make the same mistake twice.  They will leave it empty so it will look very enticing to the next set of bad guys that break into the shack.  Perhaps the club will leave a nice note congratulating the new baddies on their heist.  After all, the brain of the thief tells him that the safe will contain diamonds, rubies, gems, jewels, and of course lots of cash!  Aren’t these the kind of things that are kept in bocce shacks all over the world?  They most likely will steal the safe and leave the balls alone.

As far as the perps in this incident are concerned, the LGBC members hope that the crooks are able to cut, blast, or somehow figure out how to open the safe.  After all, they spent a lot of effort in gaining possession of the safe and risked jail time in the effort.  They will be ecstatic to find twelve beat up old balls and two pallinos when they open the safe.  Listen closely on a still night and you might be able to hear their ongoing shouts of joy over their discovery of the treasure that was hidden in the safe.  Perhaps they will put their loot to good use, learn how to play bocce, and give up their lives of crime!  If they have not yet destroyed the safe they can find the combination in the title of this article.  They should spin to the left to start the process.