School officials in five states are on alert for a Seattle weirdo dubbed "The Piggyback Bandit" who has been showing up at high school sports games and swindling athletes into giving him piggyback rides.
Sherwin Shayegan, 28, has been banned from schools in North Dakota, Minnesota, Montana, Washington and Oregon for his creepy behavior.
School officials say the 5-8, 250-pound oddball shows up at basketball games in a jersey and shorts and poses as a volunteer, snagging drinks during timeouts, laying out jerseys and even offering players rubdowns.
When the games end, he strikes, approaching members of the winning team and asking for piggyback rides.
Dumbstruck athletes often oblige for a lark - but coaches and athletic officials say Shayegan's a menace.
"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," he said.
"What's disturbing to me is that he is jumping on our young athletes, he is 240 pounds, and he can hurt someone," Mark Beckman, head of the Montana High School Sports Association, told the AP.
School officials say Shayegan has been preying on high schoolers since 2008, when he was caught lurking around a locker room after the Washington state basketball championships.
"He was jumping on players' backs after they showered," Mike Colbrese, a state athletics official, told the AP.
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