THORNTON, Colo. -- A former athletic director for Adams 12 Five Star School district was arrested Wednesday morning, accused of stealing thousands of dollars from ticket and concession sales during games.

Steven Patrick Atwood, 40, was arrested just after midnight at his home in Westminster and taken into custody by the Thornton Police Department. He is being held on felony theft charges.

The felony arrest warrant alleges Atwood stole during sporting events held from September 2008 through May 2009.

He had resigned from his position in June when confronted with the allegations, which were uncovered during an internal audit. He had worked for 18 years with the Adams 12 Five School District. He started in August 1991 and has held positions as the assistant football coach, a work education teacher, and dean of students -- all at Thornton High School. From March 2000 to September 2002, he was a districtwide driver's education teacher and then became director of athletics and activities in September 2002.

Atwood was was working with the district's auditor to learn a standardized system for bookkeeping, said Janelle Albertson, spokeswoman for Adams Five Star School District 12.

"The auditor saw that we didn't have standardized process district wide, that there were individual protocols and recordkeeping at different schools. So as part of the audit, the auditor trained Atwood and others into one process for bookkeeping. Once they put the procedures in place, that's when she started seeing the red flags. Events didn't match up. Things just weren't adding up. The numbers didn't make sense," Albertson said.

Results of the internal audit were turned over to Thornton police on May 29.