Players Kicked Off Basketball Team After Burglary Attempt

Shontice Simmons

By Melissa Traynor

CCSU basketball players Shontice Simmons, CCSU ’11, and Gabrielle Oglesby each now face three felony charges and have been indefinitely suspended from the team.

Oglesby and Simmons, both 19, were arrested on Jan. 20 and 26 respectively and are both charged with two counts of burglary in the third degree and one count of larceny in the third degree after Oglesby admitted her involvement in the theft of two laptops over winter break. Simmons, who was released on $1,000 bond, could not be reached for comment.

A Jan. 11 affidavit by Officer Joseph Magarolas of the CCSU Police Department affirms that Oglesby admitted she and Simmons stole the laptops of swim team members Katie Lang and Allison Rasile from their room 323 in Carroll Hall on Jan. 2 after they discovered the room unlocked.

Lang and Rasile had reported their laptops stolen on the evening of Jan. 2 while they were out of the dorms from team practice and dinner, but Lang told police that she had left the door unlocked. Lang and Rasile’s teammate Deirdre Burke, who stayed in room 326 over winter break, also reported two personal checks totaling $75 as well as $30 in cash missing from her room in Carroll that same evening.

According to Oglesby’s and Simmons’ arrest warrants, after Officer Magarolas narrowed down the possibilities of all persons who would have been in the building on Jan. 2, the police received a tip from women’s basketball coach Beryl Piper on Jan. 4 that Simmons may have been involved in the thefts. After police had previously spoken to the women’s basketball team, including the accused who confirmed they were in Carroll at the time of the burglary, but denied their involvement, Oglesby met with police to give a written statement.

Oglesby asserted for police that on the night in question, Simmons had called her to say that she found several dorm rooms unlocked in Carroll; Oglesby served as lookout while Simmons entered rooms 326 and 323 alone.

The warrant states that Simmons returned from Burke’s dorm room with a backpack containing a laptop she had taken and Oglesby attested that Simmons had also gone into room 323 alone, but found the two new laptops – Lang’s Apple MacBook Pro valued at $1,800 and Rasile’s MacBook valued at $1,500. Simmons allegedly returned the previous laptop to room 326.

Gabrielle Oglesby

From there it is believed that Simmons took the laptops to Torin McCullough, CCSU ’11, who is a wide receiver for the football team, so that their hard drives would be wiped clean. According to the affidavit by Magarolas, McCullough was interviewed by police, but said he cleared the drives before he knew they were stolen.

The warrant explains that “McCullough stated at some point he was told by Simmons that the computers were “hot” (stolen) at which point he told her to take them back from him because he didn’t want anything to do with the stolen property.” He was afraid that they had been lojacked and could be traced to his home, and therefore returned them to Simmons on Jan. 3. At press time, McCullough was not faced with any charges and was not arrested.

Simmons and Oglesby then allegedly attempted to return the laptops to Lang and Rasile, fearing legal consequences. The warrant states that after Oglesby tried to contact Burke to ask the laptop owners not to press charges, both Simmons and Oglesby placed the MacBooks in front of room 323 in hopes Lang and Rasile would find them.

Over Jan. 5 and 6, police questioned Simmons, but she denied her involvement in the laptop thefts, despite that police had information on Jan. 4 from Piper that Simmons had contacted assistant coach Glenn Senecal and later admitted to him that she had entered the two rooms and taken the laptops.

As of press time, Oglesby is scheduled to appear on Feb. 11 at New Britain Superior Court. Simmons is scheduled for a Feb. 10 hearing, which will also address  assault and disorderly conduct charges from May, 2009. The athletics department did not wish to comment, except other than to confirm that Oglesby and Simmons had been suspended indefinitely since Jan. 4 due to the arrests.