Plano Police Investigating Gym Thefts Committed By Careful Thieves
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PLANO (CBS 11 NEWS) - Locker room thefts at a Plano gym have one victim on a mission to catch the thieves, and she wants your help.
The thieves work in two phases. First they break into lockers like they did at the Plano 24-hour Fitness on Park Blvd. Then they get car keys and break into cars parked in the lot.
Plano Police say they are actively investigating the thefts from earlier this month. While they are not identifying any specific suspects in the case, they say one of the victims, Jessica Yang is free to share with us photos she says show possible suspects.
"Well, you can run, but you can't hide. We have your pictures," Yang said of the surveillance photos shot at a nearby Target where her credit card was used to make fraudulent purchases.
Yang says after her workout she unlocked her locker to find her gym bag right where she left it. But she couldn't find her phone or her keys, so she went to her car to look for them.
"So I went to the parking lot to see if I happened to leave it there, and then I saw police on the scene with another victim," Yang said.
In both cases the victims had car keys and phones taken from lockers secured with a combination padlock. The thieves unlocked Yang's car, stole her wallet and some cash, but left behind other valuable items and even locked her car.
"I think they have it thought through and it's by design they put everything back in place to buy themselves some time because they immediately use our credit cards," Yang said.
After talking to police, Yang called her husband who arrived to help.
"He brought his iPhone, and then he remembered that he can use his Find My iPhone feature, and so he did, and he located the suspect at the nearby Target," Yang said.
That's how she was able to get the surveillance images. She was also able to get back her phone that was left behind.
Fortunately Yang's phone had a fingerprint ID, so the thieves were not able to use it. A spokesperson for 24-Hour Fitness tells us they are aware of the locker and car thefts, and they are working with local authorities. They urge their members not to leave personal belongings unattended at the gym.
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