OAKLAND — Three custodians police suspected of stealing computers and other electronic equipment from the Oakland Unified School District have been arrested and charged with possession of stolen property.

Police arrested the first employee Saturday, and the other two Monday, during an investigation of two burglaries that occurred last week — one Sept. 2 at the district's human resources department, and the other Sept. 3 at Webster Academy in East Oakland, in which 22 brand new computers were swiped.

District spokesman Troy Flint said he would not release the names of the employees, citing the sensitive nature of the investigation and the district's desire to protect its staff.

Flint said investigators found a large amount of stolen property — computers, VCRs, DVDs, among other electronics — and believe that "it might be part of a larger pattern of theft."

Flint noted, however, none of the evidence recovered so far has directly linked the custodians to the Sept. 2 break-in of the district's human resources department. That burglary resulted in the theft of 10 computers as well as the Social Security numbers and other personal information of some 100 employees or more; the district plans to purchase credit protection for its employees as a result.

If the suspects are convicted, Flint said, "It would be extremely disturbing to learn that employees of this school district were stealing from Oakland Unified and, more importantly, from the children whose lives we're charged with improving."

But, Flint added, "We recognize that the vast majority of our staff are hard-working, law-abiding people. We don't want the entire staff painted with this brush."