KNX Newsradio spoke today with a longtime Torrance resident who said a thief broke into his gym locker and stole his car keys, allowing them to take off with his Toyota Prius.
The man, Andrew, told reporter Nataly Tavidian that he parked his car at the 24 Hour Fitness at Crenshaw Boulevard and the Pacific Coast Highway last Saturday at 9 a.m. It was a typical routine for him since he became a member around a year ago.
What wasn’t typical is what he saw around an hour and a half later, when he was done working out. At his locker, a sturdy lock had been cut and all of his belongings had been removed – including his clothes wallet and car keys – and he then ran out of the building to find his car missing from the busy lot, Andrew said.
Luckily, he had his phone on him.
He told Tavidian that he alerted gym management, who then looked up video footage that he said showed a person enter the gym with a bolt cutter. In a GoFundMe page seeking $12,000 to help recover the car, Andrew said that the Torrance Police Department told him that a suspect linked to this incident has been targeting multiple gyms in the area. Police said Toyota Prius cars are targeted as well, he said.