(Dennis Clark)
(
)
These Hofstra hoops players are leading in steals — but not on the basketball court, cops say.
Four university basketball players allegedly looted their classmates’ dorm rooms of Apple devices during a brazen monthlong burglary spree, authorities charged yesterday.
The quartet boosted more than $20,000 worth of electronics from six dorm rooms on the Hempstead, LI, campus — and resold them so they could “live a more lavish lifestyle,” cops claimed.
“They were particularly fond of Apple products — MacBooks, iPads, iPods, iPhones,” Police Lt. Raymond Cote said of the burglaries that began in early October. “The items were sold on Craigslist. They were pawned, sold to other students. They were sold on the street.”
“They are prominent figures on campus and because of their social status, they would have access to dorm rooms and would get into areas.
“The items that we charged have been stolen exceeds $10,000. The items that we believe were maybe stolen far exceeds that,” said Cote, who alleged the players used some of the money they made to dine in off-campus restaurants instead of eating campus meals.
The hoopsters were nabbed after a female Hofstra student used an application Tuesday to locate her stolen iPad and saw it had been re-registered to Shaquille Stokes, a sophomore transfer player and Harlem resident, cops said.
If convicted, Stokes, 20, and three freshmen — Brooklyn resident Jimmy Hall, Dallas Anglin and Kentrell Washington, all 18 — could lose scholarships worth up to $200,000 each. Court records say all four men — who are now suspended from Hofstra’s team, classes and facilities — admitted stealing at least some items.
“I’m not here free,” fumed Hofstra junior Amanda Torres, a Bronx resident. “And my mom is in debt because I’m here. You come here for free . . . and you steal from people who don’t have it as easy as you do?”
Hofstra head coach Mo Cassara had no comment on the stunning arrests — which came on the eve of the struggling 3-4 Pride’s game today against Southern Methodist University.
Lt. Cote said Cassara lost an iPad, iPhone, cash and credit cards in a theft in September, adding that “you can draw your own conclusions.”
But Hofstra issued a statement that Cassara had been the victim of a theft in May — before any of the four players were attending school.
A close female friend of Stokes and Anglin, who did not want to be named, said of the suspects: “They weren’t bragging about it or anything. I think they watched too many heist movies and thought they could pull it off.”
“It’s so sad . . . They had it made and messed it all up with this foolishness,” she said. “I feel awful because they ruined their lives over a few thousand dollars.”
According to court records, Hall told cops Stokes boosted one of the laptops from a dorm suite while Hall was unsuccessfully asking a girl in a room there if she would “be down to have some fun with me and my teammates” by having sex with them.
When she later noticed the laptop missing, Hall denied his pals had swiped the computer, records allege.
“I know what I did was wrong, and I am very sorry for what I got myself involved with,” Hall told cops, according to records.
Hall, who was Hofstra’s second-leading scorer, allegedly told cops he stole several MacBook Pros because “I needed some money.”
He later sold a laptop on Craigslist — and used the $350 he received to buy food and pay his phone bill.
The arrests come three weeks after Stokes was granted a hardship transfer waiver from the University of Hawaii, allowing him to begin playing for Hofstra this year without sitting out a year as normally required.
Stokes — who has since started six out of seven games — received that waiver because he wanted to be closer to his family and to an ailing grandmother.
The former Lincoln HS star was slapped with five counts of felony burglary. Hall was charged with four burglary counts; Las Vegas resident Washington was charged with two burglary counts; and Anglin, a resident of Montclair, NJ, was charged with a single count each of burglary and tampering with evidence.
All four men were sullen during their arraignment in Nassau County Supreme Court.
Stokes was ordered held in lieu of $25,000 cash bail.
Washington was ordered held in lieu of $5,000 cash bail; Hall was held on $10,000 bail; and Anglin on $2,000 bail.
Except for Anglin — who walked free after posting bail — the defendants remained in jail last night.
Legendary St. Anthony HS hoops coach Bob Hurley Sr., said he suspended Hall from his Jersey City, NJ, team twice last year because of conduct violations before booting him altogether.
“I feel very bad for Mrs. Hall, who I think has tried to do the right things for her son, and I feel very bad for Mo Cassara and the Hofstra basketball program for giving him a chance and this turning out to be where it is right now,” Hurley said.
Additional reporting by Kate Kowsh, Frank Rosario and Ikimulisa Livingston