No discipline yet for three UCLA football recruits arrested on suspicion of felony theft

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An announcement of discipline from UCLA regarding the three incoming football recruits who were arrested last week on suspicion of felony theft is expected in the next couple days, but a spokesman for the athletics department said nothing was made official Monday.

‘We’re still looking into the situation,’ UCLA spokesman Marc Dellins said. ‘When we have all the information, we’ll make a comment at the appropriate time.’

Paul Richardson, Shaquille Richardson and Joshua Shirley -- all 18-year-old freshmen enrolled in UCLA’s summer school session -- were arrested Wednesday afternoon on the UCLA campus by campus police.
The three face felony charges for allegedly stealing a female student’s backpack that contained about $1,200 worth of contents, said Nancy Greenstein, spokeswoman for the campus police, on Monday. The backpack was taken from a storage locker outside the dining area of the Hedrick Hall dormitory.

Police were called and there was evidence, believed to be video surveillance, that implicated the three incoming football players. They were booked into county jail and released Thursday morning, records show. The Richardsons, who are cousins, were each released on $20,000 bail. Shirley was released without bail.

Paul Richardson is a 6-foot-1, 180-pound wide receiver from Gardena Serra High; Shaquille Richardson is a 6-foot-1, 190-pound defensive back from Los Alamitos; and Shirley a 6-foot-2, 215-pound linebacker from Fontana Kaiser. Multiple recruiting services ranked all three as top-50 recruits nationally by their position.

-- Baxter Holmes