Four ACU students were arrested over the weekend and charged with Class A misdemeanor theft for taking computer equipment from campus offices and classrooms.

ACU Police arrested three students late Friday afternoon: Marc Little, family ministry major from West Chicago; Anthony Miller, freshman nursing major from Greenville; and Maverick Webb, freshman exercise science major from Clifton. Raoul Garcia, freshman political science major from Culver City, was arrested on Sunday at about 4:30 a.m., according to police and Taylor County Jail records. The police were acting on arrest warrants issued earlier Friday.

ACU Police Chief Jimmy Ellison said keyboards, mouse accessories and a document camera were stolen from the AT&T Learning Studio in the Brown Library, administrative offices and classrooms in Chambers Hall and from an administrative office on the third floor of the Hardin Administration Building during the weeks before and after Easter. In all, 20 items were stolen, and ACU Police have recovered 17 of those and are looking for the remaining missing items.

“Primarily these thefts were wireless keyboards and computer mice from the Learning Studio,” Ellison said. “Some of the students arrested were working together as a group, and some were acting individually.”

A Class A misdemeanor is punishable by a fine not to exceed $4,000, jail time of not more than one year or both. All four students were released the same day they were arrested on $1,000 bond.

Dr. Kyle Dickson, director of the Learning Studio, said the thefts have created added inconvenience for students using the studio opportunities.

“The losses are more frustrating to students than to the Learning Studio,” Dickson said. “It is now necessary to check out equipment, like the wireless keyboards and mice, that were previously already located in the rooms. So during the busiest weeks of the semester, students will have an added hassle when they want to utilize the Learning Studio.”

Ellison said he was disappointed that the large number of thefts came in a short span after a full school year of no such problems in the Learning Studio.

“It’s an unfortunate event that a group of students chose to take that level of advantage of the university’s assets,” Ellison said. “The university tries to provide premier equipment and facilities and some students tried to abuse their rights to these opportunities, and that’s the saddest part about this.”