PITTSFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – The Berkshire District Attorney’s Office has issued a warning of an active crime ring targeting gyms and yoga studios in the Northeast.
In a news release sent ot 22News on Wednesday, the DA’s Office reports that thieves are breaking into vehicles parked at fitness studios, stealing wallets and other personal items. They say that a spree of break-ins has occurred in both Pittsfield and Sheffield. The crime ring is then falsifying checks and posing as stolen identities throughout Massachusetts and the Northeast.
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Three women had their purses stolen from their vehicle while attending a fitness class at 1399C North Main Street in Sheffield. Officers were called on October 1 at around 9:27 a.m. to report on the incident. They viewed surveillance video and identified a white Jeep seen exiting the property. The license plate on the vehicle came back as stolen from a car in Dalton.
On the same day, two women reported having their checkbooks and personal items stolen from their cars while parked in the Williams Street Shopping Plaza in Pittsfield. The plaza includes a yoga studio.
A bank in Worcester alerted one of the Sheffield victims that someone was attempting to cash a check using their identity from a check stolen from the Pittsfield case. In addition, one of the checks stolen in the Pittsfield case was being fraudulently cashed. Video surveillance at the bank shows the same white Jeep.
On October 2, Pittsfield Police were called to Greylock Federal Credit Union for a report of a woman impersonating and attempting to cash a fraudulent check. The woman, identified as 44-year-old Brandi Graff of Halifax, Pennsylvania, was arrested. Graff allegedly used an ID stolen from the Pittsfield case to attempt to cash a check for $4,875…