Pam Shriver’s tennis trophies, car stolen after evacuating L.A. wildfire

Tennis Hall of Famer Pam Shriver’s car was stolen while staying at a local hotel after being evacuated from the Palisades Fire. Inside the car, were many of her prized tennis accolades.

“I feel for people who’ve lived through a double disaster, which is being impacted by these horrendous fires and also having a secondary trauma, like having a crime committed against your property,” she explained to Dayna Devon on the KTLA 5 Morning News.

Since the fires broke out on Jan. 7, more than 50 people have been arrested for looting or theft-related crimes in connection with the wildfires.

The Grand Slam winner was on vacation with her children when the wildfire broke out. When the blaze threatened her Brentwood home, her housekeeper evacuated immediately saving Shriver’s four pets. When she returned to L.A., a family helped her find a safe hotel in Marina del Rey, where she and her loved ones “set up camp.”

On Thursday morning, in an attempt to “have a slice of her normal routine,” Shriver headed to her car to go to the gym, but it wasn’t there.

“My Dodge Durango was gone,” she said stunned.

At first she “didn’t believe it,” thinking one of her children loaned it to a friend, but the broken glass nearby told her otherwise.

The sportscaster and her oldest child reported the stolen vehicle to the West Los Angeles Police Department’s Pacific Station. While at the police station, Shriver got word that a Good Samaritan in South L.A. found two family artwork photos of the tennis star.

“They called the photographer artist on the back of the photo art of me with the twins, from like six years ago, and he called me and asked ‘What’s happened? Your artwork was found in South L.A. So I told (the police) and from there we knew the car had at least been in South L.A,” she exclaimed.

While police know these details, Shriver knows their hands are full with other pressing matters.

“They’re on it, they’re trying. I know the police are stretched,” she explained. “Listen, I’m a lucky one.”

However, Shriver is hoping the vehicle is located and she can recover her stolen tennis trophies that were inside.

“Sentimentally, the ones that are in there mean a lot to me. I don’t think it’s good to anybody else to have a U.S. Open trophy,” she reasoned.

The vehicle is a used black Durango Hellcat and the trophies were in the back.

“I don’t think they meant to take the trophies, I doubt they’re big tennis fans. They just happened to be in the back,” she said.

As she deals with this loss, her main concern is wanting the people of Los Angeles to feel safe, especially if they’ve been affected by the catastrophic wildfires.

“It’s not just about me,” she explained. “I want our community to feel safe again.”

The Baltimore, Maryland, native has called Southern California home for 25 years and expressed that she’s “going through some reflections.” She said she wants to “feel safe and secure again, but that’s not happening right now.”

As Shriver picks up the pieces in L.A., she’s also busy coaching Croatian tennis player Donna Vekic who is competing in the Australian Open. Vekic honored her coach when she won her match by writing “L.A.” alongside a heart on the camera.

“She loves L.A. So, she’s been feeling it, not just for me, but for her other friends here. As has the whole tennis world,” she said, even citing CoCo Gauff’s support to those affected by the fires.

“There’s a lot of support. I’m trying to lean into the support instead of the rotten people who are looting and taking things from people who are impacted.”

With that being said, Shriver had this message to the person who stole her car.

“Come on man, we’ve got to come together,” she stated. “Let’s all feel a sense of community… let’s do the right thing. This is not the time to give people more stress, more worry and more lack of confidence that we feel safe.”

If anyone comes across Shriver’s items she advises to reach out to LAPD’s Pacific Division or reach out to her on X, formerly Twitter.