URBANA – Good detective work and alert patrol officers resulted in the arrests last week of four men who allegedly stole wallets from the Activities and Recreation Center on the University of Illinois campus.

UI Police Sgt. Tom Geis said wallets are frequently stolen from places like ARC and the Campus Recreation Center East, because students leave their items unattended on bleachers or the side of a court while playing ball, or put them in unlocked lockers.

He said Detective Laura Tison has been assigned to a recent spate of such thefts and she and other detectives figured out that the thieves' method of operation was to go to a particular gas station/convenience store on campus shortly after the thefts and make a purchase of a small amount with a stolen credit or debit card. If it worked, larger purchases would commonly follow until accounts could be closed by the victims.

"They were able to determine the pattern and passed that information on to patrol," Geis said.

Last Wednesday, not long after a wallet had been reported stolen from ARC at 201 E. Peabody Drive, patrol officers went to the station and watched.

"These four guys pull up. They (police) see what they think is a transaction with a credit card. When they leave, (police) pull them over and eventually search the vehicle," Geis said.

In the search, they found a wallet and a cell phone that had been stolen earlier that night from ARC.

About 10 p.m., police arrested Corey R. Anderson, 19; Matthew Lomax, 20; and Brockton Williams, 20, all of the 2000 block of North Moreland Boulevard, Champaign; and James B. Harper, 20, of the 1300 block of North Lincoln Avenue, Urbana.

All four were charged Thursday with unlawful receipt of the credit or debit card of another, a Class 4 felony. They were told to be back in court March 22. Williams has similar charges pending from September of last year.

Geis said based on the evidence they found and the statements made by the men, detectives obtained search warrants for their apartments and did the court-authorized searches Thursday.

"We found IDs and credit cards for eight to 10 different people," Geis said. "We are now in the process of trying to identify further victims. There's still a lot of work."

Geis credited his detectives for their footwork and the patrol officers with following up on the detectives' tip. He said it's possible there could be more arrests and additional charges.