GUILTY VA - Sherwin Shayegan, 'Piggyback Bandit', for assault, Ashburn, 2015

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Rum business, this. Didn't quite know what category to put it in - "Up to the Minute"? "Bizarre and Offbeat News"?

A five-state ban in place for the 'Piggyback Bandit' (Sports Illustrated/AP)
HELENA, Mont. (AP) -- The stocky man showed up in a basketball uniform for a game at Century High School in North Dakota. Players and coaches assumed he was a fan who had come with another team, so nobody objected when he began to pitch in around the bench.
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After the game was over, the man joined the winning team on the court and asked if he could get a piggyback ride. One bemused player gave it to him.

"He makes himself appear as if he's limited or handicapped. I think he plays an empathy card, so to speak," Haussler said.
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Wait - what?
Shayegan's antics stretch back to 2008 and had been mainly confined to Washington and Oregon. But since last fall, he has worked his way east to Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota, leaving a trail of befuddled athletes in his wake.

Shayegan has asked for piggybacks, attempted to pay for piggybacks and just sprung one upon an unsuspecting kid. He favors basketball games, but he also has leapt onto hockey, soccer and football players.

He has pretended to interview athletes for a term paper, acted as a team manager or just tried to blend in with the crowd for a piggyback payoff.
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He....so, who is this guy, and what did you say he did??
Little is publicly available about Shayegan's background other than his arrest record [16 convictions for criminal tresspass, vehicle prowling, resisting arrest, and felony possession of a controlled substance].

One person who has known Shayegan for several years is Mike Colbrese, the executive director of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association. .
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Nobody knew where he lived or what he did, Colbrese said. Eventually, he was viewed as an eccentric nuisance who generally bothered staff for jerseys or for a role at games.

Things changed in 2008, when Joel E. Ferris High School of Spokane won that year's state basketball tournament and Colbrese spotted Shayegan hanging around the locker room after the game.

"He was jumping on players' backs after they showered and came out of the locker room," Colbrese said.
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much more at link above
 
http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Piggyback-Bandit-Convicted-in-Loudoun-County-291001061.html

The piggyback bandit is going to jail in Loudoun County, Virginia.

Sherwin Shayegan was found guilty of assault and battery and sentenced to 12 months in jail with 10 months suspended. He was placed on supervised probation, and he must complete a mental health evaluation after serving his sentence...

His mother has told reporters her son has Asperger's syndrome and is compulsively reliving his years as a high school sports team manager.
 
This reminds me how lucky I am for all the therapy, good docs, etc., I've had for my 18 year old Aspergers-diagnosed son. It may sound silly, but these are the kinds of things I used to worry about when he was younger. What will he find to do that is not illegal or does not further socially isolate him? Right now, he is a college freshman, living at home, working 24 hours a week. But, oh, but for the grace of God and being an RN, I could be this man's mother.
 

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