Men Charged With Posing As Golfers, Targeting Exclusive Clubs' Members
SPRINGFIELD, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Thieves disguised as golfers have been targeting private clubs all up and down the East Coast, and walking away with credit cards and cash.
As CBS 2's Tracee Carrasco reported Tuesday night, a man was spotted on surveillance video wearing a blue polo shirt, golf pants, a hat and even a golf glove. He looked like he fit right in on a golf course.
But police in Springfield, N.J., said the man in the video – allegedly named Oscar Cabrera – was posing as a golfer as he walked right into the exclusive Baltusrol Golf Club.
"He would enter the club and look for the best way to get to the locker room," said Springfield Police Det. James Mirabile.
Police said Cabrera stole the credit cards of three members from open lockers on June 30. And they said he wasn't working alone; he allegedly had an accomplice named Luis Paz.
Springfield police said the two suspects went to a Target store in the Township of Union, where they used the stolen credit cards to buy $8,000 worth of gift cards. The suspects then went to a different Target and tried to buy another $8,000 worth of gift cards, but that was where their plan fell apart, police said.
On July 20, the two crooks allegedly tried the same crime at Canoe Brook Country Club in Short Hills, N.J. Employees recognized Cabrera from a police sketch, and he was arrested.
Last week, Paz was taken into custody in Queens.
Now, police believe the two men may be responsible for a string of thefts at private country clubs in Florida, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
Some golfers admitted their lockers are easy targets.
"It's just assumed that no one really looks through them, so I just go into my dad's without a problem," said golfer Collin Brunnock. "I don't even know where the key is."
"I've never locked my locker in my entire life," added golfer Pat Mucci. "I just never have."
Police said now might be the time to start locking your golf locker.
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