Robert Franz Joseph II of Dacula has been arrested in Manchester, N.H., and charged with 17 counts of burglary, police Chief Gerald Lannick said.

Police said Joseph and others are suspected of stealing at least 16 laptop computers, projectors, scientific calculators and other electronics from various schools in Barrow, Fulton, Hall and Gwinnett counties during the 2007-08 school year, hitting C.W. Davis in Flowery Branch on April 13.

Earlier this month, police found the stolen items in a Gwinnett storage facility, Lannick said.

"We found almost all of our laptops there," he said. "All these were stacked up and stored. We anticipate they were for resale or to be redistributed in some manner."

Gwinnett and Flowery Branch police identified the computers in the Gwinnett County storage space as the property stolen from several area schools. Although the schools’ identification tags were removed from the laptops, police were able to determine which computers belonged to specific schools by the serial numbers and information filed on each one.

Lannick said a Flowery Branch police officer approached the group of burglars on April 13 while they were attempting to enter Flowery Branch High School. The suspects fled the scene on foot, and the officer was unable to apprehend the burglars at the time.

Joseph was detained in New Hampshire as a result of a warrant Flowery Branch Police issued for his arrest, Lannick said.

Police said they believe the same group of burglars suspected in the Flowery Branch incident are responsible for the multiple school burglaries in Barrow, Fulton and Gwinnett counties.

Lannick said the investigation is still ongoing and other arrests are likely. Joseph is awaiting extradition to Hall County.