Three youths charged with theft from high school hockey players

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WOONSOCKET -- A hockey mom seeking to replace her son's stolen iPhone broke a police case that resulted in the arrest of three city juveniles on larceny charges, Police Lt. Eugene Jalette said Thursday.
The juveniles were all members of the Woonsocket High School hockey team and were alleged to have taken items from the locker room of opposing teams during games at Adelard Arena in the city on Dec. 6 and Dec. 16, Jalette said.
After two of the juveniles took items, including electronic devices and cash from the bags of Ponaganset team members on Dec. 6, one of the victim's mothers sought to replace a stolen iPhone by searching Craigslist for similar devices, Jalette said. The parent located one being offered for sale out of Woonsocket and contacted the police department, Jalette said.
Patrolman Kenneth Marcotte was sent along with the mother to a scheduled meeting with the seller on Dec. 10 and arrested the boy on a charge of possessing stolen goods during the meeting at a city location, Jalette said.
"Detective Peter Menard developed additional information on the case and (Wednesday) identified two other boys as being involved," Jalette said.
Two of the youths are students at Woonsocket High School and the third a student at the Beacon Charter High School in the city, according to Jalette.
The initial thefts on Dec. 6 were allegedly conducted by two of the youths as the game was being played. They were then joined by the third youth on Dec. 16 when a game was played with Moses Brown at Adelard, Jalette said.
The three players were charged with larceny over $500 in connection with the alleged thefts and released to the custody of their parents, Jalette said. The boys are expected to be summoned into Family Court for hearings on the charges at a later date, according to Jalette.
"I'm just glad it worked out the way it did and we were able to identify the people involved," Jalette said. "The big thing was being able to return the property to the victims."
An iPhone can cost as much as $800, Jalette said, a sum prompting the charge of larceny over $500.
The case remains under investigation, Jalette said, and anyone with additional information on the incidents can contact the police department at 766-1212, Jalette said. The School Department maintains a behavior code for athletes and students and can call students facing police charges to appear before the school superintendent and the school committee for a disciplinary hearing. School officials had received reports on the incidents Thursday but no information was available on whether student hearings will be scheduled.