Three charged in South Campus Commons theft

Three men were arrested yesterday in connection with the theft of a laptop and cell phone from a  South Campus Commons apartment after a resident invited the men back to their apartment from Route 1 bars, police said.

One of the suspects, Paul Lyons Wortman, is a student at the university's Shady Grove campus; the other two, John Allen Williams, 19, of North Brentwood, and Kevin Montgomery Brooks, 29, of College Park, are unaffiliated with the university. All three were arrested by University Police yesterday and charged with theft. Wortman was also charged with possession of marijuana.

The crime was reported to police yesterday morning, University Police spokesman Paul Dillon said.

Police believe Williams and Brooks stole the victim's laptop while the victim was in the bathroom and then left the apartment about 2:44 a.m.

Wortman allegedly stole the cell phone but remained in the apartment after the other suspects departed.

After everyone left the apartment, including the victim, they "went their separate ways," Dillon said.

There were multiple people in the apartment at the time of the theft, Dillon said, and upon returning from the bathroom and realizing the laptop and cell phone were missing, the victim questioned why no one stopped the men from stealing the property.

According to a university crime alert, police did not know at first to whom the laptop belonged, but "after several hours of investigation, [police] were able to determine the identity of the victim and that the laptop was stolen."

University Police found the suspects after observing Williams and Brooks running from Commons 1 with a laptop on the campus security cameras. Police caught up to the two men at the College Park Shopping Center, Dillon said.

Another officer observed Wortman on the corner of Baltimore Avenue and Knox Road shortly after the two men with the laptop were arrested. The officer recalled seeing Wortman in the company of Williams and Brooks at the bars on Route 1 on Wednesday night, Dillon said.

After questioning Wortman, the officer discovered the cell phone and marijuana in his possession.

dbotelho at umdbk dot com