Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley and his family are reportedly safe after authorities say they were victims of an attempted burglary.
According to the Tredyffrin Township Police Department, officers were dispatched to respond to a burglary at the 29-year-old NFL star’s Pennsylvania home on Saturday, July 18, shortly after 5:00 a.m. ET. According to authorities, the alleged suspects fled the area prior to the officers’ arrival.
“They were home, and fortunately, as you know, with any situation like this, our main concern is that the residents of that home at the time were unharmed, which they were,” Capt. Tyler Moyer told reporters, per ESPN. “They were fine afterwards, obviously unsettled as anyone would be.”
The Pennsylvania’s Chester County District Attorney’s Office also issued a public statement via social media in the wake of the incident, saying detectives are assisting the local police department with their ongoing investigation.
“We are incredibly grateful that the Barkley family was not injured during this incident,” the District Attorney’s office said in the statement. “We are asking the public to help us identify those responsible by checking any home security cameras for suspicious activity in the area around 5:00 a.m. If you saw anything unusual or have video that may assist investigators, please contact the Tredyffrin Township Police Department immediately.
A slew of high-profile athletes, including Kansas City Chiefs players Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes, have been the targets of burglaries or attempted burglaries as of late, prompting the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) to investigate whether the break-ins are “connected to a transnational crime ring such as one from South America,” per a November 2024 NBC News report.
At the time, local law enforcement sources told ABC News that the investigation cannot “discount a local person” being involved in the string of incidents either, noting that “it’s very easy” to predict when athletes will not be home due to their very public game and practice schedules.
Around the time both Kelce, 36, and Mahomes, 30, homes were targeted, Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis also claimed his “prized possessions” were stolen from his home while he was playing in a game.
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley Jr. also reported in September that same year that people broke into his home while he was attending a Minnesota Vikings game.
Capt. Moyer told local Philadelphia media outlet WCAU-TV that local authorities are not ruling out a possible connection between the incident targeting Barkley’s home and the incidents involving other athletes.
“We will look at all angles of this because we know, obviously, it’s been all over the news in the past few years about different professional athletes’ homes getting burglarized,” he said.
