Missteps led to UConn arrests

VERNON, Conn. -- After trying to sell four stolen laptops, Connecticut point guards Marcus Williams and A.J. Price scrambled to return the computers to their owners before they were caught, according to court documents.

That effort was unsuccessful, and left behind a pile of evidence, according to police.

Williams faces four counts of third-degree larceny, which carry a penalty of up to five years in prison and $5,000 in fines. Price has been charged with three counts of felony larceny and with lying to police, a misdemeanor.

Both players were suspended from the team Wednesday. The documents indicate that a third player, senior forward Hilton Armstrong, tried to help them return the laptops. Armstrong has not been arrested and remains on the team.

Arrest warrant affidavits suggest that a friend of Williams who does not attend the university stole the computers from dorm rooms belonging to incoming freshmen on the women's basketball team and a member of last year's women's track and field team.

That friend has not been charged yet.

Once the laptops were stolen, Price and Williams made a series of missteps that ultimately led to their arrests.

First, the three men allegedly decided to sell the computers and asked a fellow student, Christine Pettingell, to give them a ride to Manchester and East Hartford so they could look for pawn shops, according to the affidavits.

Their first stop was a bust: The store didn't buy laptops. It did, however, have a security camera that recorded the visit, according to court records. The store clerk, John Muller, immediately recognized Williams, who started for UConn last year.

A second pawn shop offered only $75 and Williams allegedly wanted more money and refused to sell. That left the men without even gas money to pay Pettingell, who told police she ordered them out of the car.

When Pettingell got back to campus, her friend, Maxine Davila, complained that her laptop had been stolen. Pettingell said she had an idea who took it, and went to the police.

Davila, a member of last year's track and field team, then confronted Williams and his friend in a dining hall. Police said the friend began to flee.

After that, the players began trying to return the computers, according to the court documents. Williams allegedly sought assurance that Davila wouldn't press charges, then returned her computer.

University police had obtained search warrants and found two laptops in Price's room.