BEWARE: Paranaque Gyms Reportedly Hit By Thief; Suspect Caught on CCTV

From menshealth.ph:
By Men’s Health editors
Aug. 13, 2015

Yesterday, we were messaged on Facebook by Coach Tim Ayson of Kettlebellista in BF Homes, Parañaque, with a cautionary tale of a thief who may be hitting gyms in the area.

“Here is the scenario,” he said. “[T]his guy has a modus of using [a] gym’s free trial. Sabay tatambay nang sobrang tagal. ‘Yun pala nananaksak na ng bag.” After hanging around in the gym on Monday, August 10, from 3pm to 8pm, Ayson claims that this person then quietly made off with two Xperias and an iPhone 6.

CCTVs in Kettlebellista captured footage of the alleged thief. Ayson sent us this screenshot.

Ayson further says that this wasn’t this person’s first visit to Kettlebellista. He previously visited the gym last Thursday, August 6, but no complaints of missing phones were reported on that day.

After the incident on Monday, Ayson created a Facebook group of gym owners in the area, and found that he wasn’t the only one to be victimized by this modus operandi.

Today, one of those other gyms, HIT Arena, also in BF Homes in Parañaque, sent this exclusive statement to Men’s Health Philippines that seems to corroborate Ayson’s story.

“Unfortunately we have been victimized by the same person,” confirms Golda Chua, a partner at HIT Arena. “Upon seeing the photo of the guy from Coach Ayson’s screencap of their CCTV, our receptionist and trainers on duty confirmed that he’s the same person who went to HIT Arena to avail of the free trial last Thursday.”

According to Chua, the alleged thief did not finish his free trial, and was seen sitting near the bag of another HIT Arena client. This client’s iPhone 5 later went missing. A police report was then filed by the client.

To stop further incidences of thefts inside gyms, “do not leave your valuables unattended,” advises Chua to other gym-goers. “Always put them inside a locker.”

For gym owners, Ayson has this advice: “Keep your eyes open and understand that ‘yung mga tambay for five hours, obviously, that’s not normal. [It might be] a modus operandi.”