HAINES CITY, Fla. — The Haines City Vipers should be suiting up in brand new uniforms this season. Instead, their coach and parents are scrambling to find players alternatives. Now the police have gotten involved.
The coach of the youth football team, Horace West, said it has been nearly three months since his team paid $3,500 for new uniforms and his players still don't have them.
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"That money is a lot. It's more than half our budget for the year,” said West.
West said back in July that he placed an order with Lathario Rolle, the owner of Ur Way Apparel, a company with which he had previously done business.
"Mr. Rolle contacted us and said that he could do our uniforms, but we had had experience with him before and he ordered some uniforms for us and they came back too small," said West.
He said Rolle offered to make things right and gave him a significant discount on the new uniforms.
"He assured me that not only would he get the right size uniforms but he would also get them back to us in a timely manner within two weeks," West said.
After a few weeks, West says the seller told him the gear was coming from a distributor in Pakistan but that they needed more money.
"I let the parents decide whether or not we should spend the money. The parents voted to roll the dice and spend the $992 and send it to Pakistan and we did that. The parents thought by doing that, our uniforms would then be on their way," said West.
Nothing ever showed up. It's a big letdown for Timothy Streeter and his 5-year-old and 6-year-old sons.
"At least once a week, they always ask me Dad, when are we getting the new uniforms? What's going on? I just tell them, it's coming, it's coming, it's coming," Streeter said.
The coach said his request for a refund was ignored. That is when he went to the sheriff's office in Manatee County, where Rolle's company is based. A court issued a warrant for Rolle's arrest and authorities took him into custody on Wednesday, in connection with the missing uniforms.
Tampa Bay 28 reached out to Rolle, and he said he is working to get the team their gear.
"These kids deserve better. The kids deserve the uniforms. They have been expecting them for over two months. The seasons nearly over and we still don't have them," said West.
The coach’s biggest concern now is making sure no other team ends up in the same situation.
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