Florida Gators backup QB Cameron Newton faces theft charges

GAINESVILLE — Florida backup quarterback Cameron Newton was arrested Friday and charged with three felonies in connection with the theft of a $1,700 laptop computer.

Newton, 19, was charged with burglary, larceny theft and obstructing justice, according to an Alachua County Jail booking report.

The computer, which was reported stolen from a dorm room by another student Oct. 16, was traced to Newton through a computer network service company, the report says. The company linked it to a school network and the user identification of "cnewton."

University Police Department officers went to Newton's dorm room Friday, the report states, and entered with his permission. An officer and a detective noticed the laptop on Newton's desk, informed him of his Miranda rights, and Newton agreed to let them check the serial number.

When the number didn't match that on the police report, the officers left the room to call the computer's owner to recheck the information. The serial number he gave the officers matched the one in Newton's room.

But when the officers returned, the laptop had disappeared. It was later discovered Newton had thrown it out of the bedroom window, according to the report. The computer was discovered behind a garbage trash bin at his dorm complex.

Florida coach Urban Meyer said that Newton has been indefinitely suspended.

Newton, a sophomore from College Park, Ga., has been hampered by an ankle injury all season and has appeared in just one game. He is the third Florida player arrested over the past two months.

Antonya English can be reached at english@sptimes.com.