This Windsor woman thought her belongings were safe in a gym locker. Then her car was stolen

It was a brazen theft from under her nose: A Windsor woman says her car was missing for days and she’s out thousands of dollars after her bag was stolen from a gym locker this week. 

Kelly Rincon said her ordeal started on Saturday, when she went to the GoodLife gym at Tecumseh Mall. She locked her bag into a locker and did her workout. When she returned, her belongings weren’t where she’d left them, the lock having apparently been cut off. 

“So I immediately panicked because I said, ‘Oh my God, like, somebody took my bag,'” Rincon said. 

Rincon said she immediately went to check on her car to see if it was still in the lot, because her keys were in the bag. It was, and she continued to keep an eye on it as she alerted staff and started calling the police. 

It was when mall security got there and insisted she speak to them inside that Rincon said she left the car alone.

She saw what happened next play out on parking lot surveillance footage after the fact. 

“You can clearly see like these people were waiting outside, inside of a black Ford pickup truck,” Rincon said. 

“Five minutes later, you see me running outside. They watch me [check on my car] to see if it’s still there. They see me  trying to open the doors. 

“When the security guards brought me inside … that’s when you can see them pull up to my car, one of the men get inside the car and drives off with the car.”

GoodLife policy includes photo ID: Company

Rincon said she’s “so frustrated” by the theft. 

“It’s honestly one of the [worst] feelings in the world to know that you work so hard for what you have … and then people out there don’t care.”

Rincon said she was told her belongings, as well as another woman’s purse, were stolen by a woman who signed up for a day pass. She says staff told her they didn’t take the woman’s identification because she didn’t have it on her.

Rincon said she’s been in touch with GoodLife management, who were apologetic even as they told her they’re not liable for any loss or theft — even though she said members are encouraged to use the lockers to prevent tripping hazards on the gym floor. 

A spokesperson for GoodLife confirmed that guests must show ID, but couldn’t confirm whether that policy was violated in this case, citing the ongoing police and internal investigations.

The fitness chain said, however, that it’s taking steps in response to the theft, including ensuring that staff “are enforcing our secure check-in processes when guests and members enter our clubs.”

“GoodLife is taking this criminal behaviour very seriously. It’s upsetting that an individual would target our members in this way,” Kelly Musovic, senior director of experience and safety with the company, said in a statement.

Rincon said she is frustrated with police, as she’s been calling constantly trying to get action taken on her case, even now that her car was recovered. 

“I’m not getting answers from the cops. Like, I’m not saying they’re not doing their job, but I just think that they don’t think that car theft or any of these things like stealing documents … is high priority. 

“I don’t think they understand what this does to us.”

Windsor police did not provide comment by deadline. But the service was recently involved in a wide-ranging effort to tackle car thefts in Ontario.

Last week, police announced 23 people had been charged — and 279 charges laid — in an auto theft investigation spanning five law enforcement agencies. Cars were destined for illegal sale in five countries. 

Car recovered, but theft still a big issue 

In Rincon’s case, her vehicle was dumped behind another local gym and has since been recovered by police. She doesn’t have the keys, and said the interior is likely ruined. 

And because her permanent resident card was in her wallet, it, too, is gone and a pricey vacation cancelled without recourse. 

“It takes up to three months to get a PR card. Unfortunately I needed one for Friday,” Rincon said. “I lost my airline ticket which was $4,000 on top of everything else that I lost.”

It’s cost her about $200 in replacement cards, she said, as well as putting blocks on her credit so that the thieves can’t apply for credit in her name. Rincon said she’s afraid for her safety and the possibility of the thieves coming to her home. 

“Basically they have my identity with them. So like, they could do anything at this point.”

Rincon said years ago her car was stolen and was missing for nearly nine months. As far as she’s aware, the perpetrators weren’t caught in that case. 

“It has happened more than once to me and I’m just sick of it,” she said.