OKC Police Investigate Allegations Against Girls Softball Coach

Oklahoma City Police are looking into allegations a trusted girls' softball coach stole thousands of dollars from a team he was supposed to coach this spring.

Parents of members of the Oklahoma Destiny All-Stars 14 and under traveling softball team say 41-year-old Lamont Martin showed up for one practice a month ago. They say Martin collected $2,500 from parents for uniforms and travel, then disappeared.

Martin also works as an Administrative Program Officer at ODOT. However, Oklahoma Department of Corrections records show Martin has done stints in prison for felonies including bad checks and lying to a pawnbroker starting in 1999. ODOT hired him in 2008. A spokesperson there Tuesday had no comment other than to say he's been an employee since December 1 2008.

Teri Jackson's daughter plays on the Destiny All-Stars, and says Martin actually stole closer to $5,000 from the organization.

"We did a background, we looked into his background, and there's a lot to him. All of it bad. And it all has to do with money," she said.

Martin refused our on-camera interview request late Tuesday afternoon. But he told me the parents' allegations against him are "probably accurate."

Nikki Jones' daughter Shaunna also plays for the Destiny All-Stars.

"It's sad somebody would do that to a bunch of 12 to 14-year-old girls. I mean this is somebody we had around our children," she said.

Parents say Lamont Martin has been an umpire in the girls' softball scene all over the Oklahoma City metro area for several years.