Former Seton Hall Coach Due in Court Wednesday

Former Seton Hall basketball coach Bobby Gonzalez is due in court in Newark on Wednesday to be arraigned on shoplifting charges.

Gonzalez was arrested on July 5 by Millburn police for an incident at the Mall at Short Hills on June 30. He is accused of taking a men's satchel from a mall store and leaving it in a restaurant.

Gonzalez is charged in an incident when police responded to a report of property damage at Polo Ralph Lauren. Police said the manager of the store reported the manager of Joe's American Bar and Grill returned a men's satchel from the store. An individual came into the restaurant, left the satchel with the hostess and never returned, police said. The satchel had been damaged in the area where a sensor tag had been attached. The satchel is valued at $1,395.

The police investigation led to a warrant for Gonzalez's arrest.

Gonzalez was fired last March after Seton Hall lost to Texas Tech in the opening round of the 2010 NIT. Since then he filed a claim against the university, to which the university countersued in June, according to a Star Ledger report.

Former Seton Hall basketball players Robert Mitchell, 23, and Kelly Whitney, 27, were indicted last month in connection with an armed robbery on March 15. They were charged with kidnapping, aggravated assault, burglary, robbery and weapons offenses. Whitney last played for SHU in 2006, while Mitchell had been dropped from the team the day before the incident after making critical remarks about Gonzalez to reporters.

In four seasons, Gonzalez amassed an overall record of 66-59 and a 29-45 mark in Big East Conference games, though the Pirates failed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament in that time. He was hired by Seton Hall in April 2006 after seven seasons as head coach at Manhattan College and was signed to a three-year contract extension last year.