Police arrested a man Thursday for allegedly stealing a wallet from a New Hyde Park gym where he worked.
Police say 27-year-old Jamel Q. Miller of Far Rockaway, a former custodian at the L.A. Fitness at 1111 Marcus Ave., used a key to open a locker in the men’s locker room there and took a wallet containing several credit cards.
He allegedly used one of the cards to buy various items at a local supermarket.
Miller was arrested at work Thursday morning and is set to be arraigned Friday on charges of forgery, grand larceny and identity theft.
L.A. Fitness Operations Manager Dave Thomas said Miller was fired “effective immediately.”
Thomas said he cooperated with police “to the extreme” in the investigation of Miller’s alleged crime.
“I’m glad that we got this particular individual arrested,” he said. “We certainly didn’t anticipate anything like that.”
This is the third arrest police have made in connection with 84 reports of thefts at the gym this year, both inside the building and from cars in the parking lot.
Flushing man Aziz Danish, 29, was arrested Nov. 13 for stealing wallets from the L.A. Fitness locker room on three separate dates in August and September.
He was arraigned Nov. 14 on charges of burglary, forgery, identity theft, fraud, larceny and marijuana possession, with bond set at $100,000. He is due back in court Jan. 8.
These kinds of robberies happen in gyms occasionally, Thomas said, adding that L.A. Fitness does background checks and takes other preventative measures in its hiring process.
Nassau police Detective Vincent Garcia said thieves target cars parked at gyms because they know owners will be inside for some time. The number of incidents has dropped
To help prevent thefts, gym patrons should not leave valuables in lockers or their cars, Garcia said in an email. “If you need to take things inside with you, keep it to the absolute minimum and carry it with you.”
