Screenshot : FOX 4 KC

A 36-year-old woman named Bridget DePriest has been arrested by Kansas City police and charged with trespassing and open burning after she allegedly set several fires on the Kauffman Stadium grass. DePriest was caught by a ballpark security guard around 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday, after he shined a flashlight and saw her on the field.


According to the Kansas City Star, DePriest told the security guard that she had entered the stadium through a gate at 8 a.m. Tuesday, which puts her in the park for almost 24 hours. From their report:

The security officer said he noticed what appeared to be trash and a trash bag on the field. He told her to get it and leave. After she collected the items and put them in a bag, she left them by the south side of the dugout, police said. While checking out where debris had been left on the field, police discovered that three small fires had been set, causing burn marks in the grass.


The damage done by the fires was minimal, said a Royals spokesperson, and it’ll be repaired within a day. DePriest’s citation also says that she was “swimming in the fountain”—presumably the big one out in right-center—which I can’t imagine is very sanitary.



The Royals are currently in the middle of a West Coast road trip, so it’s not as if she could have confronted, like, Mike Moustakas or whoever. But with an abysmal 21-40 record, this team needs any spark it can get. The crimes DePriest is charged with are only misdemeanors, so I give it until the All-Star Break before the Royals have this woman starting “Rally Fires” in the bleachers.

h/t Robert