Evanston police say employees of the L.A Fitness health club chased a man from the club on Sherman Avenue to the Davis Street CTA station early Wednesday afternoon after he was allegedly seen breaking into a locker at the club.
Police took the man into custody at the train station and say they found he was carrying bolt cutters and items linking him to other locker thefts.
Police say a non-employee witness identified the suspect as the man seen trying to break into lockers at the club.
The suspect, identified as Martin H. Kelliher, 50, of 1412 W. Sherwin Ave. in Chicago, now faces felony charges of burglary and possession of burglary tools. He’s to appear in Skokie district court at 9 a.m. April 12.
Police say Kelliher was on parole from the Illinois Department of Corrections and had two active warrants for his arrest.
How do they get in ?
I would think the fitness clubs would require proof of membership with photo ID. The users sure pay enough for such security.
Even the Y's should require photo ID for anyone they let in.
Unless this is the first person caught, members probably assumed it was other guests or employees.
Another Theft at LA Fitness
The police reports a theft from a locker in the 1600 block of Sherman. I assume LA Fitness.
The members must spend good money to join yet don't they have checks on members ? Someone monitoring the locker rooms ?
I went to the Chicago Health Club at Ridge and Devon for years and there was never a theft. Many of the members were hardcore bodybuilders and lifters and due to a locked-in annual rate many of us never paid more than $40 a year. Much less than I assume LA Fitness clients but we had better protection. O.k. a numbers of cops worked-out there and other were big enough to tear the head off of any one who broke into a locker.
LA Fitness locker break-ins
Members, not non-members, are the problem. These locker break-ins with bolt cutters are done by members. Unless LA Fitness in Evanston does a backpack check on everyone checking in, there is no way to stop this.
LA Fitness barely provides enough staff to keep the place clean, let alone hanging out in the locker rooms. And of course, it is not legal to have closed curcuit video or audio in a locker room. The solution is to carry your own valuables in a fanny pack as you workout or in the lock boxes at front of the club.