The Atlantic Beach Police Department needs your help identifying two men in connection with a theft. They are accused of stealing people’s credit cards from a local gym, and then using them to purchase thousands of dollars in liquor. And investigators say the suspects are not just targeting Northeast, Florida.
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<
JSO and Atlantic Beach PD are investigating at least three separate incidents. And all the victims came from the same gym – the LA Fitness off Atlantic Blvd.
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
Two suspects were captured stealing credit cards and wallets from locked lockers at LA Fitness.
JSO’s incident report says one theft happened in February, and the Atlantic Beach PD says they had two thefts last month.
Now, local gym members are on high alert after learning thieves are after their money.
“We want it to be a safe place, but obviously it’s not, so we have to be more careful,” LA Fitness member Marcelino Acevedo said.
Acevedo says he goes to this LA Fitness every day, but he takes extra precautions when using the lockers at the gym.
“You need to bring your own key and your own lock,” Acevedo said. “It’s not safe, not one bit. Not good.”
One of the reports said a victim left his wallet in the driver-side door panel and locked his car. He put his keys and a gym bag inside a locker, and “put a lock on it.” But when he returned, “the keys were missing.” He found them inside “the center console” of his car and saw “all his credit cards were stolen” from his wallet. The report said the victim noticed, “the lock was picked from the inside.”
Police say the suspects used the credit cards to purchase thousands of dollars in liquor.
The three reports show one transaction of nearly $5,000 was made at a Total Wine and More at the Town Center in Jacksonville. And several other transactions of over $5,000 had been made from an ABC Fine Wine & Spirits.
And it’s not just happening here. An ABC spokesperson said the crimes are happening across Florida from coast to coast.
In an emailed statement, the spokesperson said, “ABC is working closely with detectives from multiple law enforcement agencies in Florida to help identify the people responsible for various thefts, and we feel confident police efforts and the public’s help will lead to arrests.”
“I think it’s a dirty business, and they shouldn’t be doing that because people work hard for their money,” Acevedo said.
Action News Jax spoke with employees from the ABC near the LA Fitness off Atlantic Blvd, and they said all the stores are on high alert. The men’s images have been shared with all employees, and they are told to double-check credit cards and IDs.
If you have any info on these suspects, you’re asked to contact police. You can call JSO at 904-630-0500 or the Atlantic Beach Police Department at 904-247-5859. You can also contact Crimestoppers at 866-845-TIPS (8477) and remain anonymous.
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.