LANCASTER, Pa. — Police in Lancaster County have charged two Philadephia men with theft, access device fraud and other offenses relating to a string of thefts from fitness centers in and around the city of Lancaster.
Eric Dabney, 47, and Robert Holland, 54, were charged following investigations by Lancaster City and Manheim Township police, according to criminal complaints filed against both.
Manheim Township Police charged Dabney and Holland in connection to alleged thefts from a L.A. Fitness facility on the 1300 block of Lititz Pike on June 28, the complaint states.
The victim reported someone had taken their belongings from a locker at the facility, then used the victim's credit cards to make $611 in purchases from a Staples store in the same shopping center as the L.A. Fitness. Someone attempted to use the victim's other cards to make purchases at Marshalls and Walgreens in the same shopping center, but the transactions were declined, police said in the complaint.
Investigators used surveillance video from L.A. Fitness to observe a suspect, later identified as Dabney, exiting a white van and entering the gym. After he left, the white van drove to the Staples and parked, police said.
On June 30, Manheim Township Police received a report from a victim at a Planet Fitness on the 300 block of Carrera Drive. The victim said someone stole their belongings from a locker and used pilfered credit cards to buy $6,479 in items from a nearby Jared's jewelry store and additional buys at a Vitamin Shoppe.
A third victim reported a similar theft from the Planet Fitness on the same day, police said. The victim said someone stole their belongings and used their credit cards to make $402 in purchases from a Home Depot, $411 in purchases from a Weis Markets, and $400 in purchases from an Office Max at a shopping center on Fruitville Pike. The card was declined at a Wawa nearby, police claim.
Video surveillance from the Planet Fitness showed two men entering the gym parking lot in a white Ford Expedition. One of the men matched the description of the suspect in the theft at L.A. Fitness two days earlier, according to police.
The men were seen on video surveillance obtained from Jared's, Vitamin Shoppe and Home Depot, police said.
Holland is accused of committing similar acts at the Lancaster YMCA on June 30, according to Lancaster Police. A victim there reported his belongings were stolen from a locker, and credit cards were used to buy $1,639 in items from a JC Penney store, $1,399 in items from a Lens Crafters store, and $600 from a Victoria's Secret store at the Park City Center on Harrisburg Pike on July 1, according to police.
Surveillance video from the Lens Crafters store showed a suspect matching Holland's description and another man entering the Lens Crafters store from a white Ford Expedition -- the same suspect vehicle as the one used by the suspects in the Manheim Township investigation, according to police.
Investigators eventually traced the Expedition to Lyndhurst, Ohio, where two suspects were taken into custody. One of the men was Dabney, according to police.
Lancaster Police located Holland in Lancaster County Prison, where he was incarcerated for an alleged probation violation. His physical appearance matched that of one of the suspects on surveillance video taken from Lens Crafters, according to police.
