EVERETT — A Marysville woman raided locker rooms at dozens of gyms in Western Washington, stealing credit cards and other personal belongings, according to police.
The woman, 23, was arrested Wednesday and booked into the Snohomish County Jail in Everett for investigation of over 55 felony counts.
Two people called police in March to report their belongings had been stolen from Hit Fitness and Fitness Evolution, two Marysville gyms, according to charging papers.
The next day, an employee at a different gym reported the business got an alert when the woman — who was suspected of thefts at multiple LA Fitness locations — scanned her membership card to get in.
The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office identified the Marysville woman as a suspect. An investigation led by the Everett Police Department revealed she stole credit cards, car keys and bags from lockers in gyms in and around Snohomish County, the charges say. Law enforcement in King, Pierce and Skagit counties, as well as the Tulalip Tribal Police Department, also had cases in which the woman was a suspect.
She was first contacted and arrested by police earlier this month. When officers showed up at her home, she disclosed that a bag she stole had a gun inside, according to the charges.
The woman was charged with theft of a firearm, unlawful possession of a firearm and two counts of second-degree identity theft. She was booked into jail and released after she posted bond.
Her arraignment hearing was originally scheduled for Nov. 1.
But Everett detectives arrested her this week for allegedly using stolen bank cards Wednesday night to make purchases at a Fred Meyer in Lynnwood, the charges say. The woman was reportedly walking toward the self-checkout line holding a “big bag of candy” and four prepaid Visa cards when she was put in handcuffs.
A sheriff’s detective detailed several months’ worth of crimes in a 20-page report filed this week in Everett District Court.
The suspect “is a prolific thief who breaks into gym lockers and then uses the victims’ stolen bankcards to make numerous unauthorized charges, usually at Fred Meyer, Best Buy or Rite Aid,” the report says. “She has also broken into the victims’ cars, which (were) parked in the gym parking lot.”
After she was arrested, the suspect reportedly admitted to several offenses in a police interview.
As of Friday afternoon, she was in jail in lieu of $417,000 bail. She is under investigation for first-degree theft, first-degree vehicle prowling, first-degree identity theft, second-degree possession of stolen property and more.
Tips and questions can be directed to Everett police at 425-257-8450. The case number is 2021-00106136.
Ellen Dennis: 425-339-3486; edennis@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @reporterellen
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