By Christina Teller and Pauline Vu
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Ayesha Rembert, a junior forward on the UCLA women’s
basketball team, pleaded no contest to three burglary and theft
charges on July 6.
According to the charges, she stole several items, including a
laptop computer, diamond earrings and a cellular phone, worth about
$3,000, from Tiffiny Walls, a third-year history student, in the
early morning hours of Dec. 27.
Rembert entered her no contest plea just as jury selection was
about to begin for her Superior Court trial.
“I’m happy that it’s finally come to an
end,” Walls said. “I definitely feel that she got off a
little bit easy by being able to plead no contest and basically get
out of what she had done without openly admitting it.”
The day following her arrest after a basketball practice in
Pauley Pavilion, Rembert, a transfer from Marquette, was
indefinitely suspended from the team for what assistant director of
sports information Steve Rourke called “a violation of team
rules.” Athletic department officials have not commented on
whether or not the suspension had anything to do with the
arrest.
After she discovered the items were missing, Walls, who had been
Rembert’s friend for nearly a year, confronted Rembert, who
denied any wrongdoing. Walls then filed a report with the LAPD on
Dec. 27.
On Jan. 14, Walls found a package on her doorstep that had no
return address but included several of the missing items, including
the earrings and the phone. Walls later received a Federal Express
package that held the jacket and the laptop, though the laptop was
partially damaged.
LAPD Detective John Eum, the lead detective on the case, traced
the second package to a business on Santa Monica Boulevard. A clerk
at the store then identified Rembert out of an eight-person lineup
as the person who sent the package.
On the day of her arrest, Rembert signed a written confession in
which she admitted to stealing several items from Walls, according
to Eum.
“She did write out a confession,” Eum said at the
time. “I asked her why she did it. At first she didn’t
want to give me an answer, but later stated that she had done
something stupid.”
Eum said that Rembert told him her athletic scholarship did not
give her enough money to survive.
According to Eum, Rembert used Wall’s spare keys, which
she took on Dec. 25, to enter Walls’ residence. She then took
Walls’ belongings on Dec. 27 while Walls was sleeping.
Weeks after her confession, Rembert pleaded innocent at her Feb.
9 arraignment. She has been granted several continuances since
then.
The latest step in the case was her no contest plea.
Rembert’s sentencing has been scheduled for Aug. 18.
According to Deputy District Attorney Alyson Messenger, Rembert
will likely receive three months in county jail, a suspended state
prison term and three years probation, along with paying
restitution and undergoing counseling.
The incident upset Walls in a way she has not been able to fully
recover from.
“It’s just something you can’t forget about.
It hurt me a lot. She was supposed to be my friend, and I take
friendship seriously,” Walls said.
“I hope she has learned a lesson,” Walls added.
“I know I learned a valuable lesson about who you can trust
and who you can let into your life.”
With contributions from Daily Bruin wire reports.