By Linda Taaffe

The pro football coach who allegedly scammed Los Altos merchants out of thousands of dollars during a charity event for children turned himself in to police following an eight-month statewide manhunt.

Los Altos police tracked down Terry Burton, 41, near Fairfield after piecing together information from an unnamed source. The former Oakland Raider staffer and coach of the San Francisco Stingrayz women’s pro football team surrendered June 30. He faces two felony counts of burglary, two counts of grand theft and one count of identity theft.

Burton came to Los Altos in 2003 promoting a silent auction to raise money to purchase school supplies for East Palo Alto students through his charity “Pros for Youth.”

He convinced more than 44 merchants to donate merchandise that helped raise $9,000 during the event. That was the last time anyone saw Burton. Police say Burton pocketed the money and disappeared.

Los Altos merchant Diane Walz, who offered to hold the fund-raiser at her shop Balisimo Salon & Spa and helped recruit other merchants, said she felt great when she heard the news.

“Thank God,” Walz said. “I went through a year of depression. The town trusted me, and then to think that something that was supposed to be good turned out so horrible. … I was devastated.”

Walz said what she wants most is for the students to get their money.

“What type of person would take money from kids? That’s the lowest,” she said.

Dan Candelairo, producer for KMVT, donated time and money to the event and encouraged others to participate by promoting the event on his cable station. Like Walz, Candelairo said he has spent the past year trying to explain to people what happened.

“I was embarassed about it,” he said. “I’m pretty excited that they caught him. I thought he had gotten away with it.”

Candelairo said once Burton reimburses him, he plans to hold a fund-raiser to give students what they should have received the first time around.

The scam

Walz said she and Burton forged plans to hold a fund-raiser in Los Altos in August 2003 when the football coach came to town as part of the cast of MTV’s show “Made.” The last episode included a makeover for a student at Balisimo Salon.

Walz said Burton commented that he was impressed by her generosity toward the student and allegedly suggested she hold a fund-raiser. He told her that he had a lot of connections with professional athletes interested in supporting his charity.

Walz said she was thrilled when Burton invited her to team up for the fund-raiser. “I told him I didn’t know how to hold a fund-raiser. He said, ‘Leave it up to me. I’ll tell you what to do,’” Walz said.

The two went to work on a silent charity auction with sports memorabilia, including a Joe DiMaggio ball that was reported stolen and an autographed ticket stub from Muhammad Ali, and donations from more than 44 businesses.

In an interview, Burton said, “Every dollar we raise will help. Even if we only raise enough to buy five notebooks and five pencils.”

Walz said the event was more successful than anticipated thanks to local merchants.

Red flags

A bounced check and unreturned phone calls were the first red flags that something wasn’t right, Walz said.

Burton told Walz to “go ahead and spend money out-of-pocket. I’ll reimburse you,” she said.

When January rolled around and Burton allegedly hadn’t reimbursed the money, Walz reported him to police, who turned the case over to the District Attorney’s Office. Police told Walz there was little they could do at that time.

A few weeks later, Burton sent Walz her money, but there were still questions about what happened to the rest of the money.

Further investigation revealed that Burton’s charity was not listed as a non-profit on the state attorney general’s Web site, and school officials from Ravenswood School District told media they had never heard of Pros for Youth.

Police issued an arrest warrant for Burton, who, until last month, seemed to have “dropped off the face of the planet,” said Los Altos police officer John Hughmanick.

Burton posted bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned in Santa Clara County.

KMVT Channel 15 is scheduled to air a story at 11 p.m. Thursday that Candelairo produced detailing Burton’s alleged scam.