A Bermuda international football player has been charged with stealing electronic equipment valued at more than $4,000 from students at his Connecticut school.

Tahj Bell, 18, is alleged to have taken items including iPhones and laptop computers from others at South Kent School.

The talented goalkeeper is a member of the under-23 national squad. He's represented the Island against Trinidad, Jamaica, and teams from the Capital Area Soccer League in Raleigh, North Carolina. He also plays locally for Premiership Division side the Somerset Eagles.

According to the Republican-American newspaper, school officials summoned state police on Thursday to investigate complaints of stolen iPhones and laptop computers. As a trooper arrived at the school, another student approached to report the theft of his iPhone that afternoon.

An investigation led to the questioning of boys who were in the school's gymnasium when one of the iPhones went missing on Wednesday. Bell, who had been playing basketball, denied any involvement. When confronted by an eyewitness account of a theft, he confessed to a single incident involving the theft of an iPhone, computer and PlayStation.

According to the US newspaper, officials reported that equipment was taken from dormitory rooms, including one that could be used for communicating in Chinese valued at $4,200.

Bell took police to the missing items, which he had stashed in a bathroom garbage receptacle in the school's dining hall. He was then processed and held in custody overnight on a $2,500 bond.

Bell was represented by the Public Defender's Office and declined an offer to contact his consulate in New York. He was arraigned on Friday on charges of fourth-degree larceny and released on a written promise to appear in court by Judge Cara F. Eschuk.

South Kent, which is a college preparatory school, recruits football players from Bermuda. Among the other Bermudians who attend are Tre Ming, Shaquille Trott, Shakhai Trott and Anthony Hunter. They are all members of the school football team, which won the New England championship last November.

According to court documents, Bell is due back in court in Bantam, Connecticut on April 7 and is yet to enter a plea.