Pearland police say a man targeted gym lockers across multiple Houston-area cities may have more victims who have not yet come forward.
HOUSTON — A Pearland man is accused of spending months breaking into gym lockers across the Houston area, stealing credit cards and using disguises to spend them at local grocery stores before victims even realized anything was missing, according to Pearland police.
Azeez Aweda is charged with felony Fraudulent Use or Possession of Credit Card in connection with a scheme Pearland police say targeted LA Fitness and EOS Fitness locations in Pearland, League City, Webster, Spring and Houston. Nine victims have been identified so far, but investigators believe there could be more.
Pearland Police public information officer Chad Rogers described how the scheme allegedly worked.
“We’ve seen him wear hats. He’s worn a mask. He fakes a limp when he goes into the store to make it appear he’s not the same guy,” Rogers said.
Police say surveillance video, which was shared with KHOU 11, shows Aweda using what may be a master key or another device to access lockers at the fitness centers. From there, police say he would either take credit cards directly from wallets inside the lockers, or take car keys, go steal credit cards from victims’ vehicles and then return the keys.
The stolen cards were then allegedly used to buy gift cards at H-E-B locations across the area. Pearland police say the scheme started in October of last year.
Rogers said many victims had no idea what had happened until it was too late.
“Most of our victims had no idea their credit card was gone until they tried to use it later that day or even the next day,” he said.
The case came to a head when League City police conducted a traffic stop and allegedly found stolen credit cards, gift cards, disguises, a magnetic stripe card reader used for card cloning and more inside the vehicle.
At the time of his arrest, Aweda was linked to nine victims and more than 20 credit cards, according to Rogers.
Rogers offered a direct warning to anyone who hits the gym.
“When you immediately come back to your wallet, make sure all your stuff is in there so if something is missing, you can immediately report it versus later on down the line thinking you just lost your wallet,” he said.
Anyone who believes they may be a victim is asked to call the Pearland Police tip line at 281-997-4211.