WASHOUGAL — The president of the Camas-Washougal Pickleball Club is calling for increased security at the Wolfe Courts after a storage box containing a defibrillator and a variety of equipment was stolen in late October.

One of the club’s two metal boxes was taken from the courts at Hathaway Park in Washougal, according to the Washougal Police Department. The box contained an automatic defibrillator, towels, batteries, lost and found items, water bottles and pickleball balls and paddles, among other items, said Camas-Washougal Pickleball Club President Lynda Boesel.

“He had anything we needed,” Boesel said. “I’m not going to put those hard boxes back into view because, in my opinion, we’re just a target, so we need to find a better security system.”

Boesel said he discovered the 6-foot tape was missing when he went to the courthouse on the morning of Oct. 25.

“It was my birthday, the weather was great and I had planned to play. I walk into court and someone says, ‘What happened to the box?'” she said. “I had to go to the parking lot because I was so upset.”

The locked box was attached to a chain link fence on the west side of the courts, Boesel said. The club had a coded box on the side of the container that held the key.

“She was very well insured. Someone must have gotten inside the box somehow, because it was bolted from the inside in three places to a two-by-four that was chained and bolted to another two-by-four outside the fence.”

Boesel filed a police report, but admitted “there’s not much I can do.”

“Based on the size and weight of the box, I would assume a vehicle drove up the paved path from the upper Hathaway Park parking lot when the theft occurred,” Washougal Police Officer Kyle Kinnan said in a report. “There is poor lighting in this area and no cameras. I talked to Lynda about seeing if they could install motion lights.”

Courts have had other problems in the past, Boesel said.

“We had an incident last year where two leaf blowers were taken, but that was a case of someone being negligent in not locking the box. I have removed the signs. The pots at the gate were overturned. I had your typical vandalism stuff, more annoying than anything.”

Boesel contacted Washougal Mayor David Stuebe to request that the pickleball club — a chapter of Vancouver’s Columbia River Pickleball Club — be allowed to use a city-owned storage building near the courthouses.

“We suggested we split a small space we could use there,” she said. “We decided we could split it up so we don’t get into their stuff and they don’t have to worry about our stuff.”

Stuebe appeared in favor of the plan when he spoke about the theft at the Oct. 28 Washougal City Council meeting.

“This really saddens me. I don’t like to hear that stuff,” he said. “We’d like to see if we can let them use that brick building to lock up their stuff and I’ll talk to her again about other options. But according to the police report, whoever stole that thing, it wasn’t kids.”

Boesel said he will begin limiting the number of people who receive the keybox code.

“Our club is getting so big that we have to limit the number of people who have access to the codes,” she said. “We’ve gained just over 100 members since January.”

Boesel has started a GoFundMe to help pay for replacement items, but doesn’t expect to have them until March.

In the meantime, Boesel asks club members to bring their own equipment and supplies.

“Members are coming up to the plate,” she said. “I told everyone, ‘I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to bring your own balls. If you have leaf blowers, please bring them. If you have scrapers or any kind of cleaning supplies, please bring them, because we don’t have any.”

Boesel said the pickleball club generates revenue for Camas and Washougal through tourism. And the group donated two-thirds of the money it raised at its annual fundraiser earlier this year to the Washougal Police and Camas-Washougal Fire Departments.

“We are a big part of this community here in Washougal. We want to maintain our reputation because of the support we receive,” said Boesel.

The GoFundMe has raised over $4,000 at clbn.us/pickleballcourts.

“We have 300 members, and part of the membership (fees) we get goes towards buying and providing all the items needed to play at Hathaway Park,” Boesel said. “Our club simply cannot afford to replace these items. That’s why I’m asking for a GoFundMe, because I don’t want to deplete the current funding for our chapter.”