7 UGA football players victims of locker room theft

Athens — Seven football players were victims of thefts at Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall, University of Georgia police confirmed Monday.

Jamel Allen, Kenarious Gates, Abry Jones, Jordan Love, Rhett McGowan, Alexander Ogletree and Shawn Williams all reported that items totaling $1,330 were stolen out of their lockers last Thursday afternoon, according to police reports. No players are expected to have been involved in the thefts.

“We haven’t ruled anything out but have no reason to suspect that,” UGA Police Lt. Eric Dellinger said.

Last Thursday afternoon the normally heavily-secured building — which requires fingerprint identification to access – was unsecured for “faculty appreciation day.” Here is a link to a UGA video report on that event.

All the items stolen were small electronic devices. The most expensive single item to go missing was the Apple iPhone 4 with red and black otter box belonging to Jones. It was valued at $500. One other iPhone and several iPods also were taken.

“It’s not uncommon for thefts to take place in secured buildings during events like this,” Dellinger said. “The lockers they were taken from weren’t locked.”

So far UGA detectives don’t have any suspects.

By Chip Towers