Robbers ripped the guard off Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler's arm, police say

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Thieves surrounded Los Angeles Dodgers starter Walker Buehler outside a horse racing track in suburban Los Angeles last month and ripped an expensive watch from his arm, police said Tuesday. It came weeks after another professional athlete fell victim to a brazen attack in California.

Buehler was not threatened during the Sept. 28 robbery at Santa Anita Park Racecourse in Arcadia, police there said. They are investigating two similar incidents on the same day that officials say came from organized groups stealing high-end watches at large crowd events.

The theft occurred days after Buehler's final game of the regular season and a week before the Dodgers began the National League Divisional Series against the San Diego Padres on Saturday. Buehler is scheduled to start Game 3 of the series against the Padres on Tuesday night in San Diego.

On August 31, San Francisco 49ers rookie Ricky Pearsall was walking alone to his car after shopping at luxury stores in San Francisco's Union Square when the NFL player was robbed at gunpoint by a teenager who stole his Rolex watch and other expensive jewelry, according to the prosecutor.

A struggle ensued and shots from the teenager hit both Pearsall and the suspect, who was shot in the arm. Officials said Pearsall was shot through the chest at close range. His mother, Erin Pearsall, posted on social media that the bullet passed through the right side of her son's chest and exited his back without hitting any vital organs. He was released from the hospital a day later.

Thefts were captured on video in cities from Los Angeles to San Francisco and went viral, sparking widespread concerns about crime in the state. Voters will decide on a ballot measure that would reverse parts of a 2014 law that made many nonviolent thefts misdemeanors instead of felonies.