Football
Associated Press 19y

NCAA title rings stolen from Auriemma's car

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Connecticut women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma is
without four stolen national championship rings even though a suspected buyer
was arrested Thursday.

Police said two teenagers took the rings Nov. 28 and sold them for $150.
Authorities say the rings are worth about $800 each.

Auriemma said he had the rings in his briefcase for a university photo
shoot. He left the briefcase in his car, parked in a Manchester commuter lot
while he went to dinner, police said.

"I didn't lock my car and someone took my stuff," said Auriemma, who has
coached UConn to five NCAA titles, including the last three.

The teens, 13 and 15, broke into several cars in the lot that night.

"They were stealing change and CDs, maybe some credit cards, when they
stumbled onto these things," Manchester Sgt. Christopher Davis said. "I
imagine it opened their eyes up a little bit."

Police arrested the teens last month after people reported seeing the boys
wearing the rings.

Investigators didn't announce the theft until Thursday, when they arrested
Javier Lugo of East Hartford on charges of larceny and risk of injury to the
juveniles. Lugo was arraigned Thursday and was being held on $20,000 bail. He
is due back in court Feb. 9.

Lugo's criminal history includes an arrest in New York for burglary and
possession of stolen property, police said.

"I believe he still knows where they are and may still have access to them
somehow," Davis said. "They're going to be so hot now I can't imagine anybody
wanting them."

Auriemma, a five-time national coach of the year, said he didn't wear the
rings and that the theft can't undo what his teams have accomplished.

"Just because somebody steals something and wears it around doesn't make
them good at anything," Auriemma said after learning of the arrest. "Whoever
has them out there, God bless them. Have fun with them and enjoy them."

The ring from last year's championship was not in the briefcase because it
had been sent back to the manufacturer for an alteration, the UConn sport
information director's office said.

Associated Press reporter Donna Tommelleo contributed to this report from
Storrs, Conn.

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