Police cracked a campus theft ring Thursday after a stolen laptop was identified in use on the UAF computer network.

"The computer was tracked to an apartment in the Cutler Complex," the University Police Department said in a statement Friday.

According to the campus police department, three individuals involved have been identified in the theft of four laptops, one camera, an iPod, and two wallets from the Cutler Apartment Complex between midnight and 4 a.m. on Sept. 3.

The three individuals are facing charges of burglary and theft. A confession by one of the residents of the apartment led to the implication of another student and a non-student. The names of these individuals have not yet been released.

The police issued a search warrant on Thursday for the apartment that the laptop was traced to, but would not identify which apartment was searched.

However, several residents of the apartment complex say that police were seen entering apartment 304, which is known to house members of the UAF basketball team.

Chris Jordan, a member of the basketball team, was suspended this week. When asked whether or not Jordan was suspended in relation to the theft, Coach Frank Ostanik replied, "Chris Jordan has been suspended from the team for violation of team rule."

Police are exploring whether there may be a connection between the recent thefts in Cutler and a similar series of theft in Lathrop Hall during the spring 2006 semester.

"We're looking into that possibility, but have reached no conclusions," said UPD Lt. Syrilyn Tong.

Former Lathrop Resident Assistant Melissa Smith said last year's thefts were never solved.

"There was a lot of digital cameras and stuff stolen last year in Lathrop," she recalled. "A few of the people who had stuff stolen told me who they thought it was. We had them go to the police, but no arrests were ever made."

Several victims in this case say they had left their apartments unlocked Sunday.

"I was out hunting," explained sophomore Billy Galligan. "Everyone in the apartment was gone for the weekend, and we left our apartment unlocked like we usually do. My $1,600 Hewlett Packard laptop was stolen."

The thefts may have been accompanied by a diversion, another victim said.

"There was a fire alarm Sunday morning," described Nate Raymond, 22, a Cutler resident and editor of the Sun Star. "I was looking for my wallet before I evacuated the apartment for a few minutes before I gave up. Around noon, we noticed that my roommate's laptop was stolen."

According to Raymond, the theft occurred while his front door was unlocked and the bedroom door was wide open.

The burglaries, including the reported theft of his roommate's laptop, took place while Cutler resident Neil Lehner was out of town.

"The alarm clock looked like it had been pulled out of the wall," Lehner, 22, said, "so the police came by Tuesday evening and took it in for fingerprinting."

Lehner was told by the RA's of the apartment complex that the addresses of the stolen laptops had been flagged in case the thief tried to plug the stolen computer into the UAF computer network.

According to a memo sent Sept. 3 to all residents of the apartment complex by Residence Life, another student was awakened as the criminal was lifting his laptop from his desk. According to the memo, "the only reason the thief was not successful was that the resident awoke --to see the thief running away."

Residence Life has also notified all residents of the apartment complex to keep all doors, including the front door, the back door, and the individual bedroom doors, and all first floor windows locked, and report all suspicious behavior to the police.

Locking doors in the apartment complex is an unusual thing to do, according to residents, but the recent thefts are causing them to think twice about leaving their doors unlocked.

"We started locking all of our doors, no matter how long we're going to be gone," said 22-year-old Sarah Lowell. "It's scary that we have to do that. Last year we didn't lock our doors at all. It's going to be hard to adjust to it."

Lt. Tong emphasized the need for alertness and care with belongings and residence on-campus.

"Keep your valuable belongings out of view from the window," she advised, "and keep your doors locked."