Former Minnesota Timberwolves coaching analyst Somak Sarkar was arrested and charged with felony third-degree burglary for allegedly stealing sensitive team files last month.
Sarkar, 33, allegedly stole an external hard drive belonging to Timberwolves executive vice president Sachin Gupta on Saturday, February 3rd.
The complaint noted that Gupta had left the drive in his office at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn. Gupta returned to his office on Monday, Feb. 5 and discovered that his hard drive was missing.
Sarkar was fired after surveillance footage showed him twice entering Gupta’s office and “looking to see if anyone could see him” before exiting to the hallway. The hard drive contained thousands of files the team considered “strategic NBA information” as well as some of Gupta’s personal financial information.
The Timberwolves are reportedly aware of the allegations and will not pursue criminal charges, according to ESPN’s Baxter Holmes.
It’s unclear what exactly Sarkar was planning to do with the information. The ex-Timberwolves employee is currently in custody and is scheduled for a court hearing on Thursday.
It’s not the first such incident to occur in the recent past. The New York Knicks last August filed a complaint against the Toronto Raptors after one former Knicks employee had allegedly pulled off a similar stunt.
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