"Thankfully an off-duty copy pursued and apprehended the guy..."

Xerox FTW apparently?

The fact that they didn't check the guy's ID is pretty bad. But I'd guess the employees are told never to touch anyone in the facility who doesn't want to be touched, and that includes thieves.

@GMFish: They should still have a quick way to call security. Not having that is pretty messed up. And the fact that the security doesn't do anything means the places is perfect for criminals. I definitely would stop going there.

@INsano: Was this a scene from Blade Runner?

Don't stop going, just let your membership lapse. Apparently they don't care if you pay or not.

And as cool as it would be for Steven Seagal to clothesline any pickpocket or purse snatcher after a loud "Stop! Thief!" I don't think a rent-a-cop can be expected to do the same and remain employed.

So who was supposed to risk getting hurt to stop this guy? The $8/hr locker room attendant or the $8/hr girl behind the desk. Cornering a thief is a good way to more or less guarantee that there will be a fight. If I'm going to get punched in the face (or knifed) it is sure not going to be over the $10 I bring with me to the gym, or over an $8/hr job. Besides - why not invest in a pair of shorts with a back pocket that buttons and keep your stuff on you?

As far as how he got in - who knows. We don't know that they let him in without checking ID. Since he had fresh locks to put on the lockers it sounds like this was somthing that was planned out - not a crime of opportunity - his friend could have let him in the back door. Or, since the guy steals he may have taken a membership card from someone who looks like him.

Standard procedure at most business is to make no attempt to detain criminals for liability reasons. Employees of some businesses have been FIRED for ignoring that rule. I don't know why you'd want an untrained gym employee to risk their safety for someone's wallet. And security guards are mostly useless, except this guy: [lonelymachines.org]

Furthermore, the OP didn't have any proof that the guy stole anything.

They couldn't just say "stop and search" as far as I know, since they're not law enforcement and don't have a search warrant. They could probably be sued.

This sounds like a normal retail environment: employees are told to leave thieves alone for fear of a lawsuit. I’m surprised that the security guard did nothing, but he might have the same instructions as the gym staff. In that case, this also sounds like a perfect environment for thieves.

There are very specific laws about search and seizure. It is not unreasonable for the thief to say "no" to being searched and if there isn't probable cause he wouldn't be searched.

Often times security guards will illegally search people, and then any of the evidence found would be unusable in court against the perp.

I'm in no way defending the theif, I'm just pointing out that sometimes treading lightly in these situations can result in the theif being brought to justice and not released on a technicality.

there is actually a lot of liability on the business and the actual employee if the thief gets injured or harassed, sometimes even touched. most retail store employees wont actually touch shoplifters, as legal problems can follow. when i worked retail, we were trained to report theft to the management, but to not interact or stop the thief.

@pupu: "Cornering a thief is a good way to more or less guarantee that there will be a fight."

It's a gym. Aren't those people supposed to be in top shape?

It's SOP to not stop a thief as an employee. Ditto security guards in most cases (they're there to observe and report, in general). There's liability issues on all sides -- what if the employee is hurt, what if the accused thief isn't really a thief, what if the accused gets hurt, etc.

That being said, limiting access to the locker room seems to make a lot of sense -- after all, that's why you pay a membership fee. I'd have a serious chat with the gym's manager, requesting better security.

Fk the law, if someone steals and you catch them. Beat the shit out of them and deal with it later.

I hate liars and thieves. You steal from me I will cut your fucken arm off.

I was a mall cop for 3 months. For $10 an hour, there was no way in hell I was exposing myself to a false imprisonment lawsuit; particularly because it was made very clear to me that I was to be thrown under the bus should such an incident occur.

Do we know that the alleged thief DIDN'T have a gym membership? Maybe they let him in because he had a perfectly valid ID. I read the original article but it's not made clear.

Haha there's some story where the owner of my gym got into a scuffle with some cops because he wouldn't let them in when they had an arrest warrant, so I guess we have pretty good security.

"What I found most appalling was the fact that a) WSC staff are not doing ID checks on people going into the lockerrooms or entering the gym"

Did I miss something.... was it confirmed the thief wasn't a sports club member?

I don't blame the employees or the security guards. If someone screamed that someone else was a thief, and I didn't see that person steal anything, I wouldn't be tackling or detaining him/her.

I'd be furious if I was the gym owner and my front desk employee decided to appoint himself Hero of the Day. The thief was not in danger of hurting anybody, and if my employee got hurt, I would fully expect to be paying out a huge workman's comp claim and watch my premiums skyrocket.

If a random member of the public wants to help, great, but it's a whole crap-load of trouble if an employee helps.

As another poster pointed out, there have been plenty of businesses that fire employees for chasing shoplifters.

While crime may offend my sense of justice, I'd much rather just outright hand the victimized gym member a few hundred in cash for the trouble than to have an employee go get in a parking lot brawl.

@flyromeo3: "In Iran, it's hard to snatch a purse if you don't have another hand."
-Chris Rock

/sits back, waits for fireworks to commence

This is weird. This is my gym (I was there less than half an hour before this happened). I'm not clear from the original post how he confirmed that they didn't check the guy's ID. But the front counter is right at the door, and they always, always ask for your membership card to scan. They don't just randomly allow people in the door. If it's true they did in this case, then my first thought is that it could have been an inside job ... someone working the counter let his/her cousin/buddy/neighbor in and would get a cut of what he took.

@Jon Mills: Not that I disagree with anything you said, but wouldn't the OP acting as a witness to the crime constitute probable cause?

Businesses do nothing to try to stop shoplifting and it sucks. I used to work retail and all the employees and managers knew who all the shoplifters were since we had seen them with our own eyes AND the cameras. Management still would rarely ban them from the store. They could just steal all they wanted because they knew no one would even bother calling the cops since they take 30-45 minutes to show up for a shoplifting call.

@Corporate_guy: As a criminal, I would definitely start going there.

@pupu: The security guard at the front door of the mall should have done something - I agree that the locker room guy & girl at the front desk aren't responsible (aside from checking ID's).... but it was the security guard's job.

Yell: "Stop that thief and I'll bring in my sister for a trial membership!" He would have been gang-tackled before he made it to the front desk.

WTF is wrong with this country when it's impossible for employees to stop theft within the places they work at without being sued by the perp? Ugh.

@flyromeo3: Hahahahaha. This is either the funniest post ever or saddest. My favorite part is when he says "fucken" instead of "fucking" or "fuckin'". It's like a smaller, more vulgar turducken.

In case this was a serious comment (and I pray it isn't), I'd like to point out that the "deal with it later" is the problem. People who don't consider the consequences of actions usually end up unheroically in jail talking about how they don't put up with getting dissed.

@R3PUBLIC0N: May I ask... what was the point of mall security then?

Retail store loss prevention typically have VERY strict guidelines under which they can stop and investigate a customer - usually requires that they actually see the theft/concealment of product, that they monitor the perp at all times between the concealment and leaving the store/property... There is no way for this to have happened here, since cameras are not allowed in the changing rooms (hopefully).

What if despite your best guesses, this guy had turned out not to be a thief - security stops him based solely upon what you said and finds nothing. Turns out that you were actually angry that the guy stole your parking space or had a grudge against the guy...

Better to obey the posted signs in the locker rooms and store valuables in the lockers.

Aside from the fact that many businesses have policies on not having physical confrontation with thieves, the gym also had no proof that the guy had stolen anything beyond the guy chasing him claiming he was a thief. Even retail stores that do pursue shoplifters require that the employee observe the entire theft process from taking the item, never getting out of site, and leaving the building.

@selianth: That was my first reaction to "WSC staff are not doing ID checks on people going into the lockerrooms or entering the gym". As far as can be told from the article there's absolutely no reason to do this.

I am stunned that employees at a fitness club aren't, you know, fit, and able to take on an intruder.

@Princess Leela: Its Monday Morning quarterbacking on the OP's part... because they MAY have let him slip by once without checking ID then SURELY this thief must not have had ID... I don't think there was anything to show that the guys ID hadn't been checked.

@Jon Mills: I think running away after being called a thief is probable cause enough. And most people would be okay with having their shit searched to clear their name, especially if they were accused of stealing

@flyromeo3: +1
You took the job as a security guard, provide some security.

@TheWillow: The OP didn't witness anything. He didn't even know that any of his own property was missing at that point (We're not even told if anything was actually taken.) let alone having witnessed the guy in the act. Could a cop arrest based upon third party eye-witness - yes, under certain circumstances, but they certainly aren't required to do so.

@snazz: True enough. But the main point is that they're not checking those who enter to see if they are members. I can't fault them for not helping chase the guy, but if they'd have done their GD job in the first place, the entire incident would not have occurred.

@verucalise-T minus 15 days: To observe and report... they're very presence has an impact as well.

I find it reprehensible that the majority of the posters think that it's ok to live in a world with zero bystander responsibility. It's really ridiculous that it's ok to fire people for helping others. I'm not saying that everyone should be a hero but you shouldn't be punished for it. So many horrible crimes have occured recently b/c employees just watched. Off the top of my head, there was the rape of a woman on a subway staircase in NYC in view of 2 employees that didn't even yell out. Then there was the group beating of a woman in target by a whole family of thugs in Mass. She ended up in the hospital. Have we really come to the point where we all sympathize with big business getting sued?

I guess I don't have a problem with employees not doing a damn thing to stop a thief, as long as they don't mind when I take him out myself. Anyone bold enough to steal from me and gets caught in the act like that, is going to be needing a ton of dental reconstruction.

@IfThenElvis: I don't think being out of shape, if that was even the case, had anything to do with it.

Clearly none of these employees ever read Spider-man.

Everytime you let a thief go, your favorite uncle gets murdered. :P

If security people cant do anything why do they carry pepper spray, etc? Thats really silly.

I would be pissed if no one at my store did anything to stop a thief. At least stand in his way or lock the door. Gym locker robbers are a huge PITA and make everyone's life hell. And its why I only take the barest ID and my keys if I have to go to a gym, and they stay on me. Tip: you can store a car key safely on your shoe if you put the last lace through the keyring hole and then place the rest under laces.

@BZMedia: And that's fine as long as you don't mind being charged with assault.

@R3PUBLIC0N: They can suggest that it's all your fault all they want - so long as you're acting within the scope of employment it's their problem. Now, if you started tackling preteens as they were leaving hollister because you're not a fan of the shirtless boys in the windows, then yes, it'd be on your head.

@flyromeo3: Aw, hell, the OP isn't going to risk his life over his property, he figures thats the clerk's job, the mall security's job, everyone's job but his.

Did the OP really expect the girl at the desk to run after the (alleged) thief?

@fantomesq: The OP did use a locker. The thief had bolt cutters.

I don't think I'd have chased down someone with a bolt cutter...