Serial Thief Snatching Wallets From Manhattan Gyms, Cops Say

MANHATTAN, NY — A thief in Manhattan is targeting gym locker rooms and racking up charges on credit cards he steals there, cops said.

Police are looking for one man who stole wallets from three different Chelsea and Midtown gyms in just a few weeks.

The man first stole a cell phone and wallet from an employee's jacket at the Barry's Bootcamp gym on West 20th Street back in December, police said. The 28-year-old employee had hung his jacket in the locker room around 8 p.m. and came back to find his wallet and cell phone missing.

The thief ended up making $135 in charges to the stolen credit cards, police said.

Then, a few weeks later on Jan. 2, the same man cut a lock on a locker at the Crunch Fitness gym on West 23rd Street to take a 31-year-old man's belongings, police said. Police caught the man on surveillance video at the Macy's in Herald Square racking up $1,360 in charges to the stolen credit card.

The man went to another gym just a few days later, on Jan. 7, and stole a wallet from a 22-year-old man who had put it in a locker before working out, police said. The man also used that credit card at various locations, though cops didn't specify how much he spent.

Anyone with information in regard to the identity of this male is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM, or on Twitter @NYPDTips.

All calls are strictly confidential.