Former Los Alamitos High School football player Shaquille Richardson was among three incoming UCLA freshman football players arrested last week on suspicion of felony theft. All three have been dismissed from the team, university officials announced Tuesday.

"The three young men know they made a terrible mistake," head football coach Rick Neuheisel said in a statement. "We expect our players to behave a certain way and there are consequences when they don’t."

Campus police arrested the players on June 23 after responding to a call about a theft of a backpack from a locker area used by patrons of the Hedrick Hall dormitory dining facility. The players were later released by county sheriff’s officials. Police estimated the contents of the backpack at $1,200.

In addition to the former Los Alamitos student, the players, all 18, were identified as Paul Richardson,(Shaquille Richardson’s cousin)and Joshua Shirley. They were taking classes during summer session.

"Paul, Shaquille and Josh are paying a steep price for their lapse in judgment," Neuheisel said. "They will not be allowed to enroll in school this fall and will not have the opportunity to begin their UCLA academic and athletic careers."

The coach said he will decide later whether to reinstate the players in winter quarter.

“they’ve been charged with felony theft,” university spokesperson MarcDellins toldwww.OC180NEWS.com. Even though the players have not yet been convicted of a crime, “we’ve made our decision about their status on the team and the school.”

Dellins would not discuss specifics of the case but he added “even though ultimately the charges were dropped against one of our basketball players last year, we still suspended him for a couple of games. Every case is different.”