Sports

Louis Vuitton Trophy Mistakenly Reported Stolen from America's Cup Party in Belvedere

Club officials reported the trophy stolen but quickly realized that it was simply a miscommunication with Louis Vuitton officials.





By Jim Welte

While the fourth round of the Louis Vuitton Cup on Saturday was anticlimactic – with Emirates Team New Zealand cruising to its fifth unopposed win on the San Francisco Bay – a party after the race had a bit more drama than expected.

At an event at the Corinthian Yacht Club in Belvedere to recognize the participants in the Louis Vuitton Cup, which is part of the run-up to the America's Cup Finals in September, the Louis Vuitton Cup Trophy that was on display at the event went missing and was reported stolen at around 10 p.m.

Shortly after yacht club officials called police to report the theft, they realized that it was simply a miscommunication in which Louis Vuitton officials sent a different person to pick up the trophy than the one who had dropped it off earlier in the day, according to Timothy Ballard, the head of the Corinthian Yacht Club's America's Cup committee.

"It was a really big deal – for about a half hour," Ballard said.

The blunder was discovered after law enforcement agencies in the area responded to a "be on the lookout" request from Belvedere Police, and Mill Valley Police officers pulled over the limousine carrying the trophy on Tiburon Blvd. near the Hwy. 101 overpass. The driver was briefly detained and released, according to police.

The trophy was on display Monday in the America’s Cup village as scheduled. 


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