Between 1:30 and 2:00 on 4/19/09 5 wallets were stolen from lockers at Life Time Fitness in Centerville, VA. This is what I witnessed.

As I walked in, the an upset man was talking to one of the sales reps about a lost wallet. The rep walked him towards the locker room (which was where I was going), and it was clear that there was a 2nd guy at the towel desk complaining of the same problem. I went into the locker room and started unpacking, and the guy across from me was searching frantically through his bag. I asked if he lost something. He said yes, his wallet, and I pointed him to the group at the towel desk. I went out to put my wallet in my car, and briefly talked to a 3rd guy that was also hit.

After a short workout I came downstairs to find 3 marked and 1 unmarked Fairfax police cars parked in front of the gym. Officers were taking prints off of the lockers. This is close to verbatim of my conversation with one of the officers...

me: Does this place get hit a lot?
officer: Yeah, a lot.
me: Like monthly?
officer: A LOT.
me: Was it forced?
officer: Yes, the lockers are terrible. I wouldn't put anything valuable in them.

Take a look at locker 269 in the men's locker room and you'll see how a simple screwdriver can pop open a locker. The damage to the surrounding structure of the locker is minimal which speaks to the poor quality of the lock.

Up to this point my comments have been what I think is an objective view on a set of events. At this point I'll say that 1) I think Life Time tries to downplay if not scuttle the press on events like this and 2) I wish Life Time would invest in better security instead of the recent week-long aesthetic locker room refurbishment which consisted of mostly new tile work and benches.

I never leave any valuables in a locker when I go to the gym. I always put my wallet in my glovebox and hide my car keys in a locker under some clothes (locked of course). It always amazes me how many people don't even put locks on their lockers.

Mofo Wrote:
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> I never leave any valuables in a locker when I go
> to the gym. I always put my wallet in my glovebox
> and hide my car keys in a locker under some
> clothes (locked of course). It always amazes me
> how many people don't even put locks on their
> lockers.

No doubt. People do that at Golds all the time. Sheer lunacy.

A couple of years ago a few of their employees got busted for stealing all kinds of stuff, and there were pictures posted of all the loot they got.

Lifetime Fitness cares nothing about security. If you have a wallet or electronic device or ANYTHING of value that you aren't going to have with you while working out, leave it locked in the glove box in the car.

And it isn't only Lifetime... thefts from all clubs are common. Any time you have an establishment with a closed off locker section and zero security in place, you are going to have thefts.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/21/2009 07:27AM by pgens.

Just leave your wallet at home and bring your drivers license. There were a few incidents outside that club last year in which the keys were taken from the locker and the car was unlocked. All you would have to do is walk around and press the "Lock" button a few times. The car that lights up or beeps is your mark.

Lifetime doesn't want any bad press about the theft problem that has been prevalent there for a few years. They just don't care because it hasn't cost them anything. Of course, what are they supposed to do, put cameras in the mens locker area? Thats just weird.

Definitely lock the glove compartment!! There have been police signs up warning "high theft area."

I'm going to carry my keys with me in the gym from now on and only leave my clothes in the locker.

Well, that might also explain the State Trooper hanging around when I was there the evening of the 19th...

Lifetime Fitness in Fairfax City has the same problem. It seems like
every week I read about another incident of theft. You would think
LF management would do a better job of providing security but they seem
to want to leave it up to the individual member. You would think people
would learn and stop taking valuables there in the first place, but then
again, Yuppies arent always the brightest bulbs in the pack.

We had stopped bringing wallet, purse etc into the Centreville club and left them in the car -- the car was broken into and credit cards stolen. Its best to take nothing but a license and keep your keys with you.

sounds like the gypsy theives are back! I think one of them was also the guy that attacked the woman at her gym while using a Scream mask.

No doubt an inside job.

cliftonite Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> the
> car was broken into and credit cards stolen. Its
> best to take nothing but a license and keep your
> keys with you.

It sounds like it is best not to go to Lifetime Fitness at all.

That Lifetime gym is really something. I took a whole treadmill out one day, nobody noticed!

combinations locks can be hacked in under 2 minutes its a well known fact those kind of locks aren't safe

Yeah if use a master lock and just use a safety pin and pin the key on my shorts. If you really want to be safe you can just carry your car keys around with you but I've done that before and it's kind of a pain.

I go to Lifetime all the time. Never had a theft, but then I'm not an idiot like some of these people who leave their valuables lying out in the locker room on the benches while they shower or use the john.

Someone should put together a couple of dollars for some doorslips for surrounding neighboroods, saying free stuff is available at Lifetime just by coming by and asking for the "locker room special." When enough people show up at Lifetime asking about the free iPods maybe they'll get the message.

I go to the C'ville Lifetime and have actually used locker 269 (referenced in the initial post). I've never had anything stolen but again, I don't take my wallet in there. The only "valuable" thing would be my $25 watch.

The thefts must occur during the slower periods because when it's crowded (5:30am - 8am or 4pm - 7pm), you can't waste time searching through a locker since at any moment the "owner" could come into the locker room and catch you. Plus there's always one or two people in your area changing as well.

The lesson is not to leave valuables in your locker, but if you must, at least bury them deep inside your bag AND clothes. A thief is looking to grab and dash...not waste precious seconds searching. Now that I've written that, I'll probably have my shit stolen later today.

Unfortunately, any public locker at any gym or other establishment is vulnerable, so I don't think it's limited to Lifetime.

It IS the GYPSIES!!!!

I know who is stealing from the lifetime in Fairfax City........ he works there!

Its definitely someone that works at Lifetime. Just look at their "talent."
Bottom line iether leave your valuables at home or just don't go to the gym.

I had my watch and wallet stolen from me at a local health club a few months ago. I'm not going to say where because management handled it well and comped my membership for several months. I usually do leave my valuables locked in my car but I was in a rush and forgot to do so on that particular evening.

The thing is this happens at every gym & health club in the area and police will tell you that all health club lockers are easy for theives to break into. Also, it isn't an inside job, The minimum wage people who work there have too much to lose to risk breaking into members lockers. If access to your club is fairly lax then it could be an outsider but I'd bet more often than not it's members, and most frequently the children of members, who do this.

I say this because they caught the punk who ripped me off and I'll have the pleasure of seeing him in court next week as he gets his once promising life off to a fucked up start by being convicted on two felony counts. The detective that caught him told me he's an 18 year old high school senior who lives in a very affluent neighborhood. Good luck getting a nice job like dad has, asshole.

I know Wrote:
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> I know who is stealing from the lifetime in
> Fairfax City........ he works there!


Well, duh. And it's probably somebody who has a need to enter the locker rooms often. It would look weird if the trainers or sales people keep going in there.

Do everyone a service and report his ass so they can bust him in the act. It's probably more than one person too.

Today at the NEW location in loudoun County, my wallet + the wallets and shorts of 2 other members were stolen in the afternoon. Looks like the theft issues from Centreville are carrying over to this location.

Lifetime Fitness needs to take some action other than posting a few signs. Their lockers are the root of the issue.



cvilleresident Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Between 1:30 and 2:00 on 4/19/09 5 wallets were
> stolen from lockers at Life Time Fitness in
> Centerville, VA. This is what I witnessed.
>
> As I walked in, the an upset man was talking to
> one of the sales reps about a lost wallet. The
> rep walked him towards the locker room (which was
> where I was going), and it was clear that there
> was a 2nd guy at the towel desk complaining of the
> same problem. I went into the locker room and
> started unpacking, and the guy across from me was
> searching frantically through his bag. I asked if
> he lost something. He said yes, his wallet, and I
> pointed him to the group at the towel desk. I
> went out to put my wallet in my car, and briefly
> talked to a 3rd guy that was also hit.
>
> After a short workout I came downstairs to find 3
> marked and 1 unmarked Fairfax police cars parked
> in front of the gym. Officers were taking prints
> off of the lockers. This is close to verbatim of
> my conversation with one of the officers...
>
> me: Does this place get hit a lot?
> officer: Yeah, a lot.
> me: Like monthly?
> officer: A LOT.
> me: Was it forced?
> officer: Yes, the lockers are terrible. I
> wouldn't put anything valuable in them.
>
> Take a look at locker 269 in the men's locker room
> and you'll see how a simple screwdriver can pop
> open a locker. The damage to the surrounding
> structure of the locker is minimal which speaks to
> the poor quality of the lock.
>
> Up to this point my comments have been what I
> think is an objective view on a set of events. At
> this point I'll say that 1) I think Life Time
> tries to downplay if not scuttle the press on
> events like this and 2) I wish Life Time would
> invest in better security instead of the recent
> week-long aesthetic locker room refurbishment
> which consisted of mostly new tile work and
> benches.

the rise in membership costs are the real theft!

703-4-Life, why did you register your name back in 2007, and are just now using it? Very weird, I guess you stockpile screen names.

I used it, just not as much....

703-4-Life Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> the rise in membership costs are the real theft!


Are they raising membership costs again? If so, it must be to pay for all of the removal of that fireproofing on the ceiling and the new tile floors in the locker room - because they aren't really adding anything "extra". I hope not since they raised the rates last year.

I understand that locker room thefts happen, in fact they happen all the time. But, for Lifetime Fitness Management (Plano) to have such a flip and hands-off attitude about them, well, that's just inexcussable. That's what happened when when my wife had her belongings stollen in Aug 2009. The management did almost everything they could not to help.

that sucks

cvilleresident Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Between 1:30 and 2:00 on 4/19/09 5 wallets were
> stolen from lockers at href="http://www.lifetimefitness.com/clubs/index.c
> fm?strWebAction=club_details&intClubId=116">Life
> Time Fitness in Centerville, VA. This is what
> I witnessed.
>
> As I walked in, the an upset man was talking to
> one of the sales reps about a lost wallet. The
> rep walked him towards the locker room (which was
> where I was going), and it was clear that there
> was a 2nd guy at the towel desk complaining of the
> same problem. I went into the locker room and
> started unpacking, and the guy across from me was
> searching frantically through his bag. I asked if
> he lost something. He said yes, his wallet, and I
> pointed him to the group at the towel desk. I
> went out to put my wallet in my car, and briefly
> talked to a 3rd guy that was also hit.
>
> After a short workout I came downstairs to find 3
> marked and 1 unmarked Fairfax police cars parked
> in front of the gym. Officers were taking prints
> off of the lockers. This is close to verbatim of
> my conversation with one of the officers...
>
> me: Does this place get hit a lot?
> officer: Yeah, a lot.
> me: Like monthly?
> officer: A LOT.
> me: Was it forced?
> officer: Yes, the lockers are terrible. I
> wouldn't put anything valuable in them.
>
> Take a look at locker 269 in the men's locker room
> and you'll see how a simple screwdriver can pop
> open a locker. The damage to the surrounding
> structure of the locker is minimal which speaks to
> the poor quality of the lock.
>
> Up to this point my comments have been what I
> think is an objective view on a set of events. At
> this point I'll say that 1) I think Life Time
> tries to downplay if not scuttle the press on
> events like this and 2) I wish Life Time would
> invest in better security instead of the recent
> week-long aesthetic locker room refurbishment
> which consisted of mostly new tile work and
> benches.

They are at it again in the new Reston location. They are using keys to get in the lockers.

My wallet goes in the trunk, my keys stay with me when I work out.

Never had any problems this way. Getting in the trunk is really difficult on modern cars. Either you have to have a dealership connection with the programming codes, or start cutting away at the metal.

The only crime that's been committed here is dredging up a 5-year old thread.

Theft? In Reston? Imagine that.

Happening again at the Reston facility.

Money snatched from wallets. I concur with everyone above.

I personally cancelled my membership, but just be cautious and leave your valuables in your car and keep your car keys on your person.

iphone stolen from Reston...during a 30 minute time-frame. Asked if the security tape could be reviewed. Only the manager can do that and I had to wait until tomorrow. Seems like an odd response to a crime allegation. Hmmm - filed police report. Extremely fishy. 10 thefts in 2 months posted on crime report site. the place is covered in cameras and all access is recorded when members and staff scan in... Soo what's wrong with this picture? Should be very easy to catch the person if staff was fast acting and professional.

I keep my valuables locked in an armored truck that I have idling in front of the club while I work out.

p Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> iphone stolen from Reston...during a 30 minute
> time-frame. Asked if the security tape could be
> reviewed. Only the manager can do that and I had
> to wait until tomorrow. Seems like an odd response
> to a crime allegation. Hmmm - filed police report.
> Extremely fishy. 10 thefts in 2 months posted on
> crime report site. the place is covered in cameras
> and all access is recorded when members and staff
> scan in... Soo what's wrong with this picture?
> Should be very easy to catch the person if staff
> was fast acting and professional.

Chances are it's the staff doing the stealing. After years of unabated thefts, anyone dumb enough to take valuables into LF deserves to be robbed.

p Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> iphone stolen from Reston...during a 30 minute
> time-frame. Asked if the security tape could be
> reviewed. Only the manager can do that and I had
> to wait until tomorrow. Seems like an odd response
> to a crime allegation. Hmmm - filed police report.
> Extremely fishy. 10 thefts in 2 months posted on
> crime report site. the place is covered in cameras
> and all access is recorded when members and staff
> scan in... Soo what's wrong with this picture?
> Should be very easy to catch the person if staff
> was fast acting and professional.

Are you male or female? Curious which locker room gets hit. Ladies locker room packed today.

I'm about to just carry around a duffle bag and forgo the locker entirely.

It's an inside job. They have those f'd up combo locks and the clerks(trainers?) have master keys. The whole place is an over priced rip-off.