A ‘piggyback’ ride to N.J. jail
THE “PIGGYBACK BANDIT” — a West Coast weirdo who likes to get high school athletes to give him piggyback rides was arrested in New Jersey after he gave a 14-year-old boy a backrub, authorities said Saturday.
Sherwin Shayegan (photo), 34, of Bothell, Wash., is facing child endangerment charges for the creepy come-on near the baggage carousel at the JetBlue terminal Newark Airport, Port Authority spokesman Joseph Pentangelo said.
Shayegan, sporting a Seattle Seahawks cap with a neon yellow brim walked up to the teen — a stranger — about 3:10 p.m. Friday and started rubbing his shoulders and back, Pentangelo said.
He then handed the teen a note with a $10 bill inside that said, “This is money for letting me give you a massage. Thank you.”
The letter was peppered with lurid comments, sources with knowledge of the case said.
The teen reported the bizarre exchange to police, who were able to track Shayegan to his hotel in Newark and arrest him.
In the hotel they found several envelopes with notes and $10 bills, sources said. Each note was in an envelope. A name of a different U.S. airport was on each envelope, cops said.
Since 2008, schools in five West Coast states have been warned about Shayegan, who had a reputation of showing up at high school sports games and swindling athletes into giving him piggyback rides.
When he shows up, he’s usually wearing a jersey and shorts and pretends to be a team volunteer, according to reports. During the games, he gives players drinks, lays out jerseys and offers rubdowns.
He’s also been known to jump on players’ backs after they showered.
As a result of his oddball antics, the 5-foot-9, 245-pound Bothell resident has been banned from schools in North Dakota, Minnesota, Montana, Washington and Oregon, officials said.
“He makes himself appear as if he’s limited or handicapped. I think he plays an empathy card, so to speak,” Jim Haussler, activities director for the Bismarck, N.D., public schools, told The Associated Press. “It’s a little creepy. Well, a lot creepy is more like it.” Other coaches fear that the heavyset Shayegan could injure the teens who, on a lark, give him piggyback rides.
In October 2011 he was arrested in Helena, Mont., and charged with assault for hoisting himself onto two soccer players. He was given a yearlong suspended jail sentence and ordered to pay a $730 fine.