It was a brazen theft under their noses: A Windsor woman says her car was missing for days and she lost thousands of dollars after her bag was stolen from a gym locker this week.
Kelly Rincon said her ordeal began Saturday, when she went to the GoodLife gym at Tecumseh Mall. She put her bag in a locker and did her workout. When she returned, her belongings were not where she had left them, apparently her lock had been cut.
“So I immediately panicked because I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, someone took my bag,'” Rincón said.
Rincón said she immediately went to check her car to see if it was still in the parking lot, because her keys were in the bag. He was, and he continued to watch him as he alerted staff and began calling the police.
It was when mall security got there and insisted that he talk to them inside that Rincón said he left the car alone.
She saw what happened next on surveillance footage from the parking lot after the fact.
“You can clearly see that these people were waiting outside, inside a black Ford pickup,” Rincón said.
“Five minutes later, you see me running outside. They look at me [check on my car] to see if it’s still there. They see me trying to open the doors.
“When the security guards took me inside… that’s when you can see them pull up to my car, one of the men gets in the car and drives away.”
GoodLife policy includes photo identification: Company
Rincón said she is “very frustrated” by the robbery.
“Honestly he’s one of the [worst] feelings in the world knowing that you work so hard for what you have…and then people don’t care.”
Rincón said she was told her belongings, as well as another woman’s purse, were stolen by a woman who was checking in for a day pass. She says her staff told her they didn’t take the woman’s ID because she didn’t have it.
Rincon said she has been in contact with GoodLife management, who have apologized even when told they are not responsible for any loss or theft, though she said members are encouraged to use the lockers to avoid tripping hazards on the floor. from the gym.
A GoodLife spokesperson confirmed that guests are required to show identification, but could not confirm whether that policy was violated in this case, citing ongoing police and internal investigations.
However, the fitness chain said it is taking action in response to the theft, including ensuring that staff “enforce our secure check-in processes as guests and members enter our clubs.”
“GoodLife takes this criminal behavior very seriously. It’s upsetting for someone to target our members in this way,” Kelly Musovic, the company’s senior director of experience and security, said in a statement.
Rincón said she is frustrated with the police, as they have been constantly calling to try to get action on her case, even now that her car is recovered.
“I’m not getting responses from the police. I’m not saying they’re not doing their job, but I think they don’t think auto theft or any of these things, like document theft, is high.” priority.
“I don’t think they understand what this does to us.”
Windsor police did not provide comment by the deadline. But the service recently became involved in a broad effort to tackle car thefts in Ontario.
Last week, the police announced that 23 people had been charged and 279 charges filed. in a carjacking investigation that spanned five law enforcement agencies. The cars were intended for illegal sale in five countries.
Repossessed car, but theft is still a big problem
In Rincon’s case, his vehicle was dumped behind another local gym and has since been recovered by police. She doesn’t have the keys and said the interior is probably messed up.
And because his permanent resident card was in his wallet, he also disappeared and canceled an expensive vacation without recourse.
“It takes up to three months to get a public relations card. Unfortunately, I needed one by Friday,” Rincon said. “I lost my $4,000 plane ticket on top of everything else I lost.”
It’s cost him about $200 in replacement cards, he said, as well as blocking his credit so thieves can’t apply for credit in his name. Rincón said that he fears for his safety and the possibility of thieves reaching his house.
“They basically have my identity with them. So, they could do anything right now.”
Rincón said his car was stolen years ago and he was missing for almost nine months. As far as she knows, the perpetrators were not caught in that case.
“It’s happened to me more than once and I’m sick of it,” she said.
