Residents who visit LA Fitness on Dearborn Circle in Mt. Laurel would be well advised to lock up their belongings after a series of theft reports this month.
Mt. Laurel Police have received four theft reports from the men’s locker room of the LA Fitness in a span of 10 days from July 2 through July 12. The thefts have included items such as wallets, cash, credit cards, cell phones and keys.
Lt. Stephen Riedener of the Mt. Laurel Police Department said the police have received seven total reports of theft from LA Fitness.
“We’ve had seven thefts … there this year,” he said. “Two were cars that were broken into and the other five were unsecured lockers that were broken into.”
The nature of the crimes varies. In most of the cases, the victims left the items while they worked out at the gym. They didn’t notice the items were missing until they returned.
In two cases, victims had valuables stolen from outside the gym. In a report on July 4, a victim’s car keys were stolen from a locker. The suspect used the keys to enter the victim’s car, move it to another area of the parking lot, and steal a wallet, cell phone and cash.
One thing all of the reports have in common is all of the victims’ lockers were unsecured. Riedener said gyms are common targets for thieves since visitors don’t carry valuables with them when they are working out.
“They’re certainly going to try unsecured lockers first before going after secured ones,” Riedener said.
In all of the reports from July, the victims left their lockers unsecured. Riedener said crimes such as the recent thefts are easier to prevent when gym patrons bring a locker to secure their items.
“If you lock your car and you lock your things, your locker is less likely to be broken into,” he said.
Mt. Laurel Police are unsure whether the recent thefts are the work of one suspect or are unrelated. Police are continuing to investigate all of the reports. Anyone with information or tips about the thefts can call the Mt. Laurel Police Department’s confidential tip line at (856) 234–1414 ext. 1599.
