Monday, February 20, 2012

Freak: The "Piggyback Bandit"

Drive and Dish has heard from several readers who wonder why we haven't weighed in on the strange tale of Sherwin Shayegan, the 28 year old man who shows up at high school basketball games across the Western United States, gains access to the teams' benches and cons his way into getting piggyback rides from players. He's known as the "Piggyback Bandit," and his story has gone viral over the last several days.

ASSOCIATED PRESS/ESPN

HELENA, Mont. -- The stocky man showed up in a basketball uniform for a game at Century High School in North Dakota. Players and coaches assumed he was a fan who had come with another team, so nobody objected when he began to pitch in around the bench.

"He helped lay out uniforms, got water. He even gave a couple of kids shoulder massages. Creepy stuff like that," said Jim Haussler, activities director for the Bismarck Public School District.

After the game was over, the man joined the winning team on the court and asked if he could get a piggyback ride. One bemused player gave it to him.

Sherwin <span class=
AP Photo/Bismarck SchoolsSecurity footage taken this month at Century High School in Bismarck, N.D., shows a man identified as Sherwin Shayegan of Bothell, Wash., known as the 'piggyback bandit.'

"He makes himself appear as if he's limited or handicapped. I think he plays an empathy card, so to speak," Haussler said. "We didn't realize what we were dealing with until several days later."

What they were dealing with the night of Feb. 4 was the Piggyback Bandit -- Sherwin Shayegan of Bothell, Wash., a 28-year-old man who ingratiates himself with high school sports teams, then hoists his 5-foot-8, 240-pound frame onto the backs of the student athletes.

Shayegan's antics stretch back to 2008 and had been mainly confined to Washington and Oregon. But since last fall, he has worked his way east to Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota, leaving a trail of befuddled athletes in his wake.

Shayegan has asked for piggybacks, attempted to pay for piggybacks and just sprung one upon an unsuspecting kid. He favors basketball games, but he also has leapt onto hockey, soccer and football players.

He has pretended to interview athletes for a term paper, acted as a team manager or just tried to blend in with the crowd for a piggyback payoff.

Why he does it is unclear, as is who came up with the "Piggyback Bandit" nickname that now follows him wherever he goes.

"Why he does it is unclear?" No it's not. It seems pretty obvious that he has some kind of "piggyback" fetish, and that he receives some measure of sexual gratification -- however strange it may be -- from jumping on young athletes' backs.

The only thing that's "unclear" is whether or not the kids whose backs he jumps on feel something poking them in the back.

Well, that and what his parents were smoking when they named their kid "Sherwin."

Sherwin Shayegan.jpg (Photo: mugshots.com)

More:

Little is publicly available about Shayegan's background, other than his arrest record. Phone numbers listed for relatives rang unanswered, and messages left were unreturned.

One person who has known Shayegan for several years is Mike Colbrese, the executive director of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association. Colbrese said he became acquainted with Shayegan about seven years ago, when Shayegan was a common fixture at games and used to ask for work as a waterboy in state high school basketball tournaments.

"He would just wander around. You wouldn't see him interacting with coaches and players when we were first aware of him," Colbrese said.

Nobody knew where he lived or what he did, Colbrese said. Eventually, he was viewed as an eccentric nuisance who generally bothered staff for jerseys or for a role at games.

Things changed in 2008, when Joel E. Ferris High School of Spokane won that year's state basketball tournament and Colbrese spotted Shayegan hanging around the locker room after the game.

"He was jumping on players' backs after they showered and came out of the locker room," Colbrese said.

It sounds as if he's been attracted to high school basketball players for a while, but that he had to spend about three years working up the courage -- or polishing up his "challenged" water boy schtick -- to escalate his con to where he could get close enough to the young athletes to jump on their backs.

It seems like a lot of people are approaching the "Piggyback Bandit" story as if it's some kind of funny, off-the-wall tale about an extremely eccentric, oddball dude. But in our opinion, it's really a story about some guy who's just a seriously fu**ed up pervert.

The cat's out of the bag now, though. The guy's strange compulsion has made him into something of an internet star/"meme." So he's famous, baby! But so was Brian Peppers.

This much is certain -- now that Mr. Shayegan's story is known in all 50 states, it's going to be that much more difficult for him to pull off his "Piggyback Bandit" antics at high school basketball games (and to find/maintain gainful employment).

It will be interesting to see if he keeps trying.

20 comments:

i can't get enuff said...

Parlay Larry is gay!

José said...

¡Parlay Larry es un maricón!

Butler Bob said...

Booooooooo Diggggettty Deeee Deeeeee

Everybody be wondering what that sound be beein. It be creepin up on yall. It be getting louder n louder. uh huh. uh huh. Chugga Chugga Chugga Chugga Choo Choo. you been thinkin that them ole freightr be runnin scared. Chugga Chugga Chugga Chugga CHOO CHOO! That sound be beein them Butler Train Steamrollin through them tournament. uh huh. uh huh. I be beein over by them Steemers on them look out for them Shelley Smith on them espns. Reason I been over there is that Bertha Jenny be watchin them soaps and my wife be beein in them room takin Bobby’s ole stool away. Them poor hound be also roamin out back in them cold and cant be takin them yappin ladies them whole time. I been sneakin out them ole pea con pie to them Steemers and we be watchin them brakitology talkin about them pay debit card schools where them kids aint be learnin. Them regular kids in them final 4 aint be beein talkin about on them brakitology nincompoop. Them kids at them Butler be always flyin like them new stealth aeroplane. We been watchin them broken arrow movie on them cinemax that bertha jenny been buyin since she be beein in them house all them time. I be lookin for them single prince charmin that be sweepin that dame off her feet. I been tryin by them Jacks matches outside them flyin J. If you be knowin any one them gentile man out there that be lookin for some good cookin then they be needin be headin to them Monon and be askin for them Bobby them Jacks player. Then we be headin over them vfw where Bobby be treatin for some of them moonshine, just like them smookie dookie kids be drinkin by them chapel in them caroleinas. Uh huh uh huh. Soon I be needin them tux duster for them dancing. Butler be comin on and we be cutting down them nets. Teeeeeeeeeee Heeeeee. I be polishin them old 2 steps and be ready for them celebratin. We be cutting down them nets!!! Butler. We BE cutting DOWN them NETS!!!!!

Wrigleyville Illini said...

Butler plays boring, slow down white Indiana basketball. Brad Stevens is exceedingly white, but he can get away with that coaching at Butler since he prolly relates to his players b/c their all boring slow white guys from Indiana.

Just don't make me watch that style of basketball. The hillbillies in Indiana like it just fine, but we need excitement and sizzle and that coolness factor here in Chicago. That's why we need to fire Bruce Weber NOW!!!!! And why we need to hire SHAKA SMART!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shaka is young, cool, hip, charizmatic, passionate, emotional, young, hip, cool and African American. If we hire him, we make a huge splash and gain instant credibility nationally. I'm just giddy when I think about how many studs from Chitown would line up to play for Shaka. He's just got that 'IT FACTOR'. I have a huge man crush on him.

Elite athletes don't want to play for boring white guys. They want to play for young, hip African American coaches who let there teams get out and run uptempo, run and gun, roll out teh balls style basketball, and who play hip hop on the loud speakers everyday at practice and who bump Wiz Khalifa on there Skull Kandy headphones on the sidelines when the team's warming up b4 games. They want to play for cool African American coaches who use the latest slang from the hood when there relating to the players.

Brad Stevens is just to BORING and WHITE. Same goes for his teams style.

We don't need a coaching search. We know who our man is. Just go out and do whatever it takes to get him in Champaign. If you gotta throw $5-7 million a year at him to make it happen, just get it done.

If you gotta build a new arena to get him here, don't even waste any time thinking about it. Just get it done. If it takes $100-200 million to build a new, state of the art arena, just get it done.

The thought of Shaka teaming up with Jerrance Howard on the recruiting trail makes me jizz in my pants.

Fire Clown Shoes Brucie Weber.

Hire Shaka Smart.

Keep Jerrance as assistant coach (no matter how much $$$ it takes to make it happen).

Bring BAck The ChiEF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wrigleyville Illini said...

I don't even care anymore. I mean, I knew what was gonna happen before the game started. We didn't belong on the same floor with Ohio State tonight. And to think, we actually beat this team a month ago (in spite of our clueless, out of touch, dorky, dumbass coach). It still hurt that this beatdown was on ESPN for the whole country to see. Now everybody's laughing at us. This team has mutinyed on coach Clown Shoes. I mean, I don't blame them. They have to hear that dumbass Weber yelling all game long and they have to put up with his yelling everyday in practice. Theyre like, maan, shut teh F*#$ up old man. Go to hell a-hole.

No, it's not just that we got beat down on national TV, it's that our idiot coach embarrasses my alma matter every time were on TV. I have to here carp from teh Wisky alums at work and from the Sparty alums, the scUM alums, the Bucky alums and even Squakeyes and Loosiers when I'm out in the wrigleyville bars. Everybody knows Brucie Weber doesn't even belong coaching a middle school jv team. It's jsut embarrassing. I mean, people make fun of his voice and the way he yells all game long and the fact that he always has that clueless dumbass look on his looser face. Bruce sucks and he took an elite, all time top 10 basketball program like ours and totally screwed the pooch.

It just sucks. I dont' even care anymore. I'm not watching anymore games. This team finally got tired of listening to there looser coach, so they just threw in the towel and did a team mutiny. They don't have any respect for that clown, and I don't blame them..............cuz neither do I. As for the team mutiny..........I actually applaud that, it's about time the team tells that idiot asshat coach to go f**k off. Just go out there and get your points guys. Don't do anything Weber says. Don't run his idiot boring offence, don't worry about all that emphasis on defence, just play playground basketball like you guys grew up playing on the playgrounds of Chitown and have fun.

But it bothers me that this clusterfark was on national TV for everybody to see. I'm embarrassed for my alma matter.

Unfortunately, I'm way past the point that I give a rats a$$. I'm just numb.

Fire Clown Shoes.

Hire Shaka Smart.

Keep Jerrance as assistant coach.

AND.BRING.BACK.CHIEF.ILLINIWEK !!!!

S.K. said...

Wrigleyville Illini,

That last post of yours is probably the best-written comment you've ever left on this site. You know, the one where you rant for 9 paragraphs about Illinois basketball after professing that you don't care about Illinois basketball anymore.

In the comment, your writing is improved and your thoughts are more organized than usual. Not sure about the whole "mutiny" thing you get into, but it sure does seem as though the Illini have thrown in the towel.

Don't get me wrong, you're still an idiot. But you stepped your game up a little bit for that last comment.

Lincoln Railsplitter Illini said...

i agree with everything wrigelyville illini said. everybody noes webers in over his head and our kids are so sick of him they lose on purpose just to get him fired. that just showes our kids have good heads on there shoulders. weber throws our best players under the bus when he loses so its about time our kids give him a kick in hte arse.

i agree wit wrigelyvile on skaka to. i get so excited about him recruiting up in chicago with jerrance that i start gettin dizzy hand havin chest pains. i was thinkin about it the other day and i had to call an ambulance. well since i live in the country, it took the ambulance about 45 minutes to get here, so by the time they showed up i was thinkin about something else and my heart wasnt beating so hard. but i start to get a racing heart whenever i start thinkin about shaka and snacks goin into cabrini green and the projects up in chicago to recruit.

Dr. Rockso said...

C-C-C-Dr. Rockso got dizzy and had chest pains a few times. But thatz cuz Rockso overdosed on.........COCAAAIIINE!!!!!!!!

I'm Dr. Rockso, the Rock 'N Roll Clown.

I do COCAAAIINE!!

dRunk IdIOT said...

white folks git crunk yall. haha. gues whoze drunk again playboy!!!! itz ya boy!!!!! and im drunka then i been since new yearz. wuz big pimpin up in da clubs in janesville and beloit last nite. started snowin wen i came outta da aftaparty. had to drive home in a blizzard. couldnt see anything cuz of all da snow......but prolly coulndnta seen nothin anyway cuz i wwuz blind drunk son!!!!! lol come home and past out b4 i could come in da crib. woke up under aabout a foot of snow LOL!!! came inside and decided to blow off school today. my moms woke me up b4 she left fo work at 8:00, so i pulled out a bottle of MD 20/20 when she walked out da crib and been drankin ever since. gotta warm up LOL. Wuz cold out there when i wuz past out in da snow. wuz spittin game at all dem hoez up in da club like a real bosss last nite kidd, so i wanna keep dat henny buzz on to keep that feelin yo. LOL!!!!! im a boss........im a don. im drunkker then a muthafunka!!!!!

Wrigleyville Illini said...

A buddy of mine just told me Shaka Smart had a perfect ACT in high school and that he was an academic all american in college. HOLY. EFFEN. CARP. HIRE. THIS. GUY. RIGHT. NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Coach Brucie Clown Shoes cant coach his way out of a paper bag and he prolly couldnt score higher then a IU or Iowa alum on the ACT. Where did he go to school? Wisconsin-Milwaukee? Weber's not smart at all. I mean, he just stands there with this stupid look on his face like a deer in the headlights. Shaka Smart scored a perfect ACT and was an academic all american!!!!! This guy is a friggin Einstein genius. No wonder his teams are so friggin awesome. I mean, even the guy's name sounds smart.

Fire Weber before tommorrow's game.

Hire Shaka now!!!!!

Bring back the CHIEF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wrigleyville Illini said...

I've been thinking about Shaka some more. Me and some buddies were just talkin about him here at the Cubby Bear. I told everyone thet Shakas so smart he could prolly win us 10 games a year just by thinking us to the win. Lemme explain........Shaka would give us a decided strategic advantage against everybody we play just b/c of his elite intellect/oversize brain. Right now one of the biggest problems are team has is are low basketball IQ. That's on Weber. He coaches are kids to be as dumb as he is. But if we get Shaka, hell coach us up to be smart like he is. His intellect will rub off on are guys. Guys like BP3 and DJ immedately go from being low bb IQ guys to hoops geniuses. With all our talent and athleticism, well be next to unbeatable if we get those IQ's up. Then there's the X factor.......with Shakas huge brain....he can work jedi mind tricks on everybody from the referees to the players on the oyher team. So we will win 3-5 games just b\c of that. Plus, its possible he could focus his mental rays on the ball in game winning shot situations. So with Shaka thinking the ball into the basket on potential game winners, we win 3-5 more per year. I'm lovin this guy more the more I think about him.

Parlay Larry said...

Wow...just wow! I havn't been been back to this websight for a long time, so I didn't know what peopole were saying about me. But obviously, everybody thinks IM gay. Gues what.....I got news for you boys.......IM defanetely NOT GAY!!!! IM about as str8 as u can get. Really, really hardcore str8. Mkay. I mean, srsly, get with the program!!!! Anyhoo.....about the dude who jumps on young stud athlete's backs......srsly WTF!?!?!?!?!!! He's creepy. U might be taking it the wrong way tho. There might not be anything sexual about it. It could just be a misunderstanding. I mean, when I was in high school (OMG, I HATED high school so much....I mean, I was so awkward & bullies were so mean to me.....but who didn't hate high school!?!) people used to accuse me of checking other guy's packages in the showers after gym class. OK, so I got caught "staring" a few times. But I wasn't "checking guys out," I was just "comparing." There's nothing gay or even remotely sexual about comparing there junk to yours. It's something every str8 guy does. So I took a lot of heat for that little "misunderstanding" (and got the shit kicked out of me more than a few times... sigh). So maybe this is all a misunderstanding. Oh well, the guy's still creepy tho. Just sayin. Anyhoo.......gotta run. I'm at an Oscar party adn I just stepped away for a few minutes to play with my iphone. Gotta get back to see who wins best actress. Well, I mean, it's not like I care who wins, but I've got money on it. I mean, they don't call me Parlay Larry for nothing. Ta-Ta!!!

Sister Therese said...

Dear Mr. T.S and Mr. Buckets,

I am writing to you in sadness that you have not cleaned up this website. My efforts to help you and your participants to write about teaching basketball have not succeeded. I have invited several of your troubled children to attend retreats to refocus their lives. They have responded with disrespect. How dare you condone the abusive comments they continue to write.

I am making one last plea to stop this drivel about drug abuse, alcohol, adultery, and other forms of sin. If no immediate changes are made, I must take swift action in reporting you to the authorities.

Sincerely,

Sister Therese

Clemson Clyde said...

Maan, I caint bleave LeBron done threw dat ball away like dat at da end of da all star game. How u finna b da man if u caint make a damn game winnin shot in da all star game. Jordan woulda hit dat shot in Kevin Durant damn face and den stole Durant ol lady fo a minute so he could lay da pipe on ole boy'z woman. Dats wat a playa do yall!!! Bron and Cris Bosh need 2 shut da hell up and win somethin fo they keep runnin they damn mouth, know wat im sayin. Kobe b lookin at Bron like.... "Nigga please.....shut yo damn mouth.....fool"!!! Kobe be like, "Im da man, and dis here iz my house...... so step da funk off, u broke azz nigga"!!!!!

Maan, even dat slant eye, 2 inch dikk havin, eggroll eatin, harvard math nerd chink jeremy lin prolly woulda hit dat game winna!!!! Haha. Den he prolly b up in Durant face talkin awl kinda shit like....."ching chang, wing wang, ping pong long duck dong.....yo azz chop suey""!!!! Haha!!!

Datz aiight tho. Bron aint won nuthin yet, but Kobe still holdin it down. I dont care wut nobody say, Kobe aint no MJ.....But he still nice. Caint nobody get close to Mike, know wat im sayin. Mike still da greatest of all time. But Kobe da man rite now. Ol boy been holdin it down fo a minute. Aint nobody knocked my boy off dat mountaintop yet. D Wade and Lebron, yall can keep on tryin, but Kobe still on point, know wat im sayin.

Yessir!!!!

Da All Star game wuz nice, but i no all my niggaz wuz watchin Nikki Minaj on stage fo da game started. I been watchin ol gurl fo a minute, but me and my boyz still b like....."DAYUM!!!!!! OL GURL GOT DAT GADUNKADUNK GOIN ON"!!!!!!! Dat booty so big ol girl could stand dere and u could set yo damn champain glass down on top of dat azz. Haha. Dont get me wrong, she aint got flo. Only 12 yr old white gurls listen 2 her damn music. But day-um I cant get ova dat booty!!!!! Haha!!!!!

Letz go!!!!

Wrigleyville Illini said...

I've been sitting here at work watching Shaka Smart/VCU videos on youtube all day. i can't get enuff of this guy. i love his havoc defense. we need to hire this guy yesterday. theres this one video where shaka gets interviewed by wilbon on PTI. Holy. Effen. Crap. This. Guy. Is. Smart. And. Smooth.

It's sad, b/c i've also been reading the VCU message boards all day and the VCU fans don't think theres any chance Shaka leaves them for us. It's just sickening to read how the VCU fans see us. weve sunk alot farther down then i realized. Friggin VCU fans think there mid major school is a better job then us. They think the Colonial conference is a better league then the B1G. its jsut sad.

Thank you Bruce. look how far you sunk this program. now even fans from mid major schools feel superior to us.

Fire Bruce Weber!!!!!!

Hire Shaka Smart!!!!!!

Promote Jerrance Howard to associate junior head coach!!!!!!

Bring back THE CHIEF!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wrigleyville Illini said...

Couldn't sleep. I was too busy thinking about Shaka Smart to get to sleep. Kept tossing and turning. Finally, I decided to get up and watch Shaka Smart interviews on youtube until I get tired. But instead of getting tired, I'm really pumped up now that I've been watching Shaka some more. I prolly won't get to sleep at all tonight now. It's gonna be a long day at work, especially since I've got to catch up on so much stuff since I spent most of Monday and Tuesday watching Shaka Smart videos on youtube at my desk instead of doing actual work. At least I got to sleep early last night. Fell asleep on the leather couch watching TV. It was kinda rough sleeping on the couch, but I had nice dreams ..... I dreamed of Shaka coaching my Illini to one championship after another all night.

Fire Bruce Weber!!!

Hire Shaka Smart!!!!

Promote Jerrance Snacks to associate head coach!!!!

Bring back the Chief!!!

Wrigleyville Illini said...

OMG. Northwestern almost beat tOSU. I mean, th frikken Mildcats take Bucky to w\in 2 pts and it takes an effen buzzer beater for Bucks to pull out a win. We go to Columbus and get a**raped by a team that can't even put the effen mildcats away. Oh yea, I almost forgot...... the freakken mildcats came into OUR HOUSE and beat us by 7 points. That's all on Bruce Weber. Fire Weber. Hire Shaka. Promote Snacks. And bring back Chief Illiniwek!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Buckeye Biff said...

Wrigleyville Ill-whine-i, didn't you guys beat us once this year? I seem to remember our guys going into Champagne and getting upset on national TV after Brandon Paul dropped 43 points on us back in January. And didn't you guys already beat Northwestern up at their gym?

You're an idiot.

Lincoln Railsplitter Illini said...

I agree with wrigelyville illini 100% This is on Weber. Get rid of clown shoes and get Shaka Smart in here now. This is embarasseng.

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