You know the age-old saying “boys will be boys,” but this situation takes that expression to new heights. At LSU, where football is life and over 100,000 pack Tiger Stadium weekly in the fall to cheer on their beloved Bayou Bengals, the libations and beer consumption is usually in heavy rotation.
As spring brings the sound of pads popping, we know it’s getting close to the annual spring game, and that means the beer is on chill in preparation for that festive April 22 afternoon down on the bayou.
The students at LSU know it well. And just maybe that’s why one student allegedly decided to take it upon himself to steal over $1K in alcoholic beverages from “Death Valley.”
Why did Bryce Tilotta Steal $1K Worth Of Beer?
Per reports by ABD affiliate WBRZ in Baton Rouge, 19-year-old sophomore Bryce Tilotta was part of “a group of college-aged males” who were seen taking beer from the stadium at around 3 a.m. Sunday morning, and as they saw officers in pursuit they fled, and couldn’t be found.
The problem with the situation was surveillance footage from Tiger Stadium earlier that evening showed them putting the stolen beer into a pickup truck. The truck registered to Tilotta, took the officers directly to his dorm, where he agreed to consent to search his room, and the beer was found.
According to USA Today, Tilotta admitted to stealing the beer, and was charged with one count of simple burglary. There was really no other way for him to plead with all the evidence from his truck and then having the alcohol in his dorm. He was in a no-win situation.
Frat Brothers Playing Games?
This sounds like some fraternity brothers playing games and it turned bad pretty quickly. In fact, Outkick.com pretty much said that in their remarks about the situation.
“This almost certainly started as a group of bros just looking for a great story? Someone has the idea to pull off a beer heist and, nobody decided to say no,” wrote David Hookstead of Outkick.com. “Next thing you know, there’s a whole crew at Tiger Stadium sneaking like it’s SEAL Team 6 flying into Pakistan.
“There’s just one problem: They allegedly drive their own vehicle to the heist. That’s robbery 101. As soon as that truck was picked up on a surveillance camera, it was over. They could get the information in a matter of seconds off the plates.
“Or, they could just track it back. Either way, these guys thought they were Danny Ocean and the homies from ‘Ocean’s 11.’ Unfortunately, for LSU’s Bryce Tilotta, they were not.”
What will be interesting is what kind of punishment Tilotta will get. Louisiana state law requires him to pay a fine not to exceed $2,000 dollars, with a jail sentence not to exceed 12 years.
Tigers Football Is Coming Off Of SEC West Title
In head coach Brian Kelly’s first season in Baton Rouge, where Kelly repeatedly tried to talk as if he was from the area by adding his version of Southern twang to his speech, the Tigers really overachieved in winning the SEC West. Their 63-7 blowout of the Purdue Boilermakers in the Citrus Bowl capped a 10-4 season that in essence was a surprise to most.
In year two the expectancy is to keep it going. We’ll see if Kelly and crew can do that, but first they’d better keep that beer under wraps for fans.
