DULUTH – A 23-year-old Duluth man was charged Thursday in the theft of 40 hockey sticks from the Mankato West High School boys hockey bus downtown last weekend. Cole Saice was arrested Monday.

According to the criminal complaint, surveillance footage near the Holiday Inn shows a male entering the bus around 5 a.m. Saturday and leaving with a large duffel bag. He returned within the hour carrying the bag and tried to open storage compartments on the sides of the bus. He then left with the bag and walked behind the nearby Chum shelter.

Later that night, another man was found with the duffel bag, which contained hockey sticks. The man said he found it near a dumpster behind the shelter.

When arrested, Saice told police he took the bag and returned later for more because someone named "Bear" wanted in on the theft.

"He asked me ... if I could help him, so I helped him," Saice said in the complaint.

He admitted discarding the bag. More hockey sticks and other equipment were found nearby.

The Scarlets stored their hockey sticks — together worth about $12,000 — in the team bus parked near their hotel on Friday afternoon. They discovered the theft early Saturday morning when they unloaded gear for their game against Anoka High School in the Heritage Holiday Classic tournament. The theft forced the game to be postponed. It has not yet been rescheduled.

Minnesotans stepped up in the wake of the theft, raising thousands on a fundraising site to replace the gear.