The closet is wide open: what is stolen from sports locker rooms
The police have recorded increased activity of thieves in the locker rooms of elite gyms and spas. Hunters of expensive watches and jewelry have become a separate caste of criminals who know how to distinguish branded "clothes" from replicas and estimate the cost of "boilers" on the hand of an amateur athlete with one glance. Izvestia found out who is rummaging through other people's lockers, what thieves are interested in and how security technologies counter this.
Watches, cash and cashless
An epidemic of thefts has hit fitness clubs and gyms. This is especially true in large cities of the country, where the culture of fitness, yoga, and swimming is developed, and the administration strictly adheres to ethical standards and does not use surveillance cameras in locker rooms. A foreign currency worth almost 200 thousand rubles was stolen from a visitor to a prestigious sports club on Presnenskaya Embankment. The girl kept the cash in her purse, which she left in a locker with a magnetic lock during the workout. She was the last customer and didn't notice any of the other customers. Under similar circumstances, a Muscovite lost 90 thousand rubles in a club on Luzhniki Street. The man was lucky — within a week, investigators identified the suspect, who turned out to be Maxim T., who was already under investigation for a similar crime.
A few weeks earlier, an expensive Swiss watch worth almost 600 thousand rubles was stolen in Belgorod. They were left in the locker of the club on Volchanskaya Street by the director of a large agricultural enterprise. In Kursk, a gold chain, a cross and a pendant of a premium brand were also stolen from the locker of a fitness club, the damage is being determined. In Krasnodar, an expensive watch worth 2 million rubles was stolen from a man under similar circumstances.
In St. Petersburg in June, a foreign woman, the CEO of a company, became a victim of gym thieves. In a fitness center on Optikov Street, almost 200 thousand rubles were stolen from her, which she recklessly left in the locker room.
Criminals are also interested in accessing smartphones. More than 50 thousand rubles were transferred to a controlled account by a thief who took over the mobile phone of a gym visitor in Kansk, Krasnoyarsk Territory. The account to which the money was transferred belonged to a foreign citizen.
Portrait of a criminal
"As a rule, they contact the police only for serious reasons, when it comes to significant damage, theft of documents," a law enforcement source told Izvestia. — In reality, there are much more crimes. In most cases, we are talking about situational thieves — an ordinary office clerk often cannot get past other people's headphones or even shoes. Shoes very often disappear from gyms.
Depending on the region, the portrait of the criminal varies, the source says. In small towns where people know each other, such crimes are often the work of visiting staff, sometimes foreign citizens or drug addicts. The latter usually buy a one-time subscription to get into the gym.
In Moscow, detectives are already practically confronted with professionals of this kind of criminal trade.
— People get into the halls using other people's passports, for example, they paste their photos from lost documents or use a good polygraphic forgery. And even more often, the card is issued remotely by sending a fake screenshot of the document, because managers need to fulfill a sales plan.
After several investigations, the thieves understand where the cameras are installed, notice the "fat" customers, and monitor their daily routine.
— Such guys are well versed in expensive things, they can distinguish Omega from Brightling from afar. Such a catch can take several days. And they will commit a crime with a ticket in their pocket in order to quickly escape the country.
According to him, thieves are no less active in women's locker rooms than in men's ones.
— Girls have a lot more things that criminals are interested in. It is from them that clothes and shoes are most often stolen. In some cases, the cost of things is amazing.
Recall that in March, Mytishchi police officers caught a serial thief from locker rooms in bath complexes.
"He waited for everyone to leave the locker room, broke into lockers, took cell phones, cash and disappeared. The total material damage amounted to more than 350 thousand rubles," the Moscow Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia reported.
A piquant moment
Most clubs do not have security services as such, their functions are performed by cameras and administrators, said Andrey P., manager of one of the premium fitness clubs, on condition of anonymity.
— They usually work from the statement of the injured client — they look at the picture and determine who left the locker room. And then a bunch of "buts" begin. For example, after high—profile scandals with illegally installed cameras in the locker rooms of a number of clubs, all fitness clubs have officially abandoned this model and do not even use hidden cameras - they are more expensive in case of a leak of "nudity". During the introductory conversation, clients are always told that all valuables should be put away in special lockers, which are located under the cameras and simply under the direct visual control of the reception staff.
According to him, theft usually occurs when a customer is in a hurry — he forgot to take off an expensive watch, cufflinks, chain, bracelet, put it in a locker, returned and did not find his belongings.
— Club cards are a preventive security measure, but I know of cases where thieves regularly went to training sessions for several months, studying the work of cameras, staff and the training cycle of the richest clients. By the way, I'll tell you a secret — fitness clubs have secret blacklists of alleged thieves with their photos.
Lawyer's opinion
— It is important to note that in almost every fitness club, the contract or information signs state that the administration is not responsible for the loss or damage of personal belongings of clients, including in the locker rooms, - explains lawyer Ekaterina Krasnova. — This is due to the fact that responsibility for the safety of things in public places (which include locker rooms) is largely regulated by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, as well as by the law on obligations and property protection.
According to art. 1062 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, organizations are required to ensure the safety of property if it is transferred to them for storage, however, the loss or damage of personal items that the client does not transfer to responsible storage usually does not entail the responsibility of the owner of the institution.
— In the case of fitness clubs, clients, as a rule, do not conclude a separate storage agreement, which means that the club is not obliged to compensate for the damage.
It should also be noted that most fitness clubs install video surveillance cameras and security systems to prevent violations.
—However, despite these measures, they cannot guarantee complete protection against theft,— says Krasnova. — Nevertheless, this practice relieves the administration of responsibility for the loss of things, which is specified in their rules, and can be explained, for example, by the fact that the fitness club is not a specialized institution for the storage of property.
Thus, in practice, if your property is missing from the locker room of a fitness club, most likely, you will not be able to sue the institution, the lawyer believes.
— It is important to familiarize yourself with the club's rules in advance in order to understand what their responsibility is, as well as to take precautions, such as using safes or not leaving valuables unattended.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
