Tolland High School Coach Accused Of Stealing From Athletes

TOLLAND, CT — A 28-year-old man who was serving as the Tolland High School girls cross country coach has been charged for a dozen thefts inside a THS locker room, state police said.

Obinna Nwafor was served a warrantat home on Monday charging him with 12 counts of sixth-degree larceny, according to an arrest report. The victims in the case are listed as high school-aged students and the thefts allegedly involved money and took place in the football locker room, according to a report.

He is identified in a warrant as the coach of the THS girls cross country team and the thefts took place during and just after the season — Sept. 4 to Jan. 7, according to a report. The value of the cash taken was $1,150, according to a report.

He posted a $1,500 bond and was assigned a court date of April 15, according to a report.

It is his second recent theft case. In February, Nwafor was arrested on a nearly 29-month-old warrant from theft incidents inside a University of Connecticut gym locker room, state police records show.

Obinna Nwafor, 28, who, according to records, lived in Manchester at the time of the 2015 incident but who now lives in West Hartford, was charged with failure to appear on eight counts of sixth-degree larceny on Feb. 5, according to an arrest report.

According to state police dispatch records, troopers went to Tolland High School that February day to investigate a "suspicious incident." State police said nothing criminal was uncovered, but, while at THS, the warrant on Nwafor was discovered and he was taken to Rockville Superior Court to be formally charged.

The incident turned out to be the new thefts, according to a warrant.

In February Tolland school system administrators identified Nwafor as an indoor track coach. Superintendent of Schools Walter Willett said he was placed on administrative leave, pending "due process" amid an investigation.

The outstanding larceny charges against Nwafor stem from a September 2015 incident in which he is accused of sneaking around UConn's Hugh Greer Field House and rummaging through gym bags and wallets, according to an arrest report. The field house used to house intercollegiate sports contests but is now used as a recreation center.

He was charged by UConn police in June 2016 with the eight larceny counts and made two court appearances, a clerk at Rockville Superior Court said. He then missed a pair of court appearances and a re-arrest warrant was issued in September 2016, a clerk said.