Arlington Heights police received a report about 11:46 AM Monday, Janurary 23, 2017 of a theft in the women’s locker room at LA Fitness, 345 East Palatine Road Arlington Heights, IL. Police received a report that an unknown offender or offenders removed several pieces of gold jewelry, valued at $4,300 from the victim’s locker.
A woman removed her gold jewelry and placed it in a gym bag in a locker before using the swimming pool next to the locker room.
When the woman returned to the women’s locker room, she discovered that her jewelry was missing from the gym bag. The victim realized the lock may not have been locked on the locker.
The theft is the second known theft at the new LA Fitness facility, which opened one of their finest and largest facilities on Friday, December 23, 2016.
Arlington Heights police received a report about 8:31 PM Friday, January 20, 2017 of a theft at LA Fitness in the men’s locker room between 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Police received a report that an unknown offender or offenders removed the victim’s jeans and keys from an unlocked locker.
Unattended and unlocked items are vulnerable at all fitness centers. Even locked locks are vulnerable. Offenders can use bolt cutters to cut through a lock, and there are also techniques to defeat combination locks — some instructions are even available on YouTube.
Many locker thefts have been reported at both Xsport Fitness Arlington Heights locations for years.
Vehicle burglaries are also common at fitness centers because offenders can expect that victims will be in the fitness center for at least about 30 minutes or more. There is even a group of offenders known as the Felony Lane Gang that targets purses at fitness centers for identity theft. They’re called the Felony Lane Gang because they use the furthest drive-thru lane to minimize recognition of their own identity. However, many banks now have close-up cameras at all drive-thru lanes.
The most recent crime involving the $4,300 gold jewelry theft at LA Fitness is reported to have occurred on Monday, January 23, 2017 between 10:45 AM and 11:45 AM. The elapsed time range including the time the crime could have occurred is 1:00 (hours: minutes).
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