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Two men have been charged with the theft of $18,000 (£13,467) worth of England boots and equipment and face up to seven years in prison.
Daily Mail Sport revealed on Friday that the audacious heist had taken place while the load was en route from West Palm Beach in Florida to England’s Swope Soccer Village base in Missouri.
Sources say boots belonging to Harry Kane and Jordan Pickford were among the items taken. The players’ table-tennis table was also smashed during the robbery.
Kansas City Police have now confirmed that Mustafa Salik and Erfan Kamal each face one count of receiving stolen property. If convicted, this carries a sentence of between one and seven years in prison.
Jackson County prosecutors have listed the items allegedly stolen, most of which have since been recovered. The loot included four pairs of football boots, goalkeeper gloves, three signed England shirts, eight training kits, two stuffed lion mascots, a Lego set of a Nike Air shoe, five pairs of trainers, a World Cup football and a JLB speaker.
It was on Friday afternoon, 24 hours before England were due to train for the first time in Kansas City, that logistics staff realised they had been the victims of a robbery. They had expected to find all of their goods waiting at Swope Soccer Village to then be arranged inside the training facility.
England were the victims of theft while on the road playing their World Cup warm-up games
However, it very quickly became apparent that most of the load from one van was missing. It is said that left at the roadside was one lion and one World Cup ball.
Frantic calls were made to senior FA staff as well as police, and up to a half a dozen Kansas City Police Department cars arrived on the scene.
Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas said: ‘I am grateful for the quick work of the Kansas City Police Department and the Prosecutor’s Office in resolving an investigation across several states, helping crime victims recover goods stolen in transit, and ensuring the accused will face prosecution.
‘Kansas City’s public safety leadership will continue to ensure all are safe and offenders will be held accountable swiftly for any misconduct.’
Jackson County prosecutor Melesa Johnson said: ‘Jackson County will not tolerate any criminal activity that targets World Cup visitors, including the international teams that have travelled here to compete.
‘We thank the Kansas City Police Department and our on-call attorneys for their quick work investigating this incident and filing charges immediately. Our office is committed to holding these individuals accountable.’
Meanwhile, England’s players were told to shelter indoors on Saturday night after tornado warnings pinged on their mobile phones as they watched the NBA Finals game between New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs at the team hotel.
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