AP

Cowboys running back Marion Barber Sept. 21 during the team’s game in Green Bay, Wis..

DALLAS - While Dallas Cowboy running back Marion Barber carries a football on the field, Dallas police say the so-called "Uptown Burglars" carried away his autographed football from quarterback Tony Romo, a diamond chain worth $36,000 and thousands of dollars worth of electronics.

According to a Dallas police report, Barber left his home on March 31. When he returned on May 21, he told police his “front door had been damaged around the lock and he noticed his apartment had been ransacked."

Sources told News 8 police have linked that burglary to Damon West, who is allegedly one of the Uptown Burglars. The burglars allegedly drilled holes in people's apartment doors, ate their food and then took their property.

In an exclusive interview with News 8 last month, West denied the allegations. "I've never burglarized anybody's home," he said. "I'm not guilty of that. I don't claim to walk on raindrops, but my parents raised a lot better kid, or man now, than what they are alleging."

But, police say West, a former quarterback for the University of North Texas, is a fast talker and say they have evidence that he ran an organized criminal enterprise.

Sources said they linked West to Barber's burglary after they got a tip that he bragged about breaking into a Cowboy's apartment.

In May, police arrested West while he was allegedly driving a stolen BMW out of Irving.

A police report said a large amount of property, including the stolen Tony Romo football, was found inside the vehicle.

Dallas police returned the football and an iPod with a Pro Bowl emblem to Barber Tuesday.

E-mail rlopez@wfaa.com