OREM, Utah, Dec. 26, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — Two Salt Lake City men were booked into the Utah County Jail Thursday after being charged with theft of vehicles and property at an Orem VASA fitness center.
Patrick Daniel McBride, 28, and Michael Andrew McArthur, 39, are suspects in multiple thefts at area fitness centers, their probable cause statement says.
McBride and McArthur face identical charges of:
- Two counts of theft of a firearm or operable vehicle, a second-degree felony
- Three counts of unlawful acquisition/possession/transfer of a financial card, a third-degree felony
- Theft, value greater than $500 and less $1,500, a class A misdemeanor
- Two counts of unlawful use of financial transaction card, a class B misdemeanor
Additional charges
Besides those charges, McBride faces a charge of theft, value of less than $500 with prior conviction within five years, a class A misdemeanor.
McArthur faces additional charges of theft, value less than $500, a class B misdemeanor, and one more count of unlawful use of financial transaction card, a class B misdemeanor.
Officers of the Orem City Police Department were called to the Vasa Fitness Center on a vehicle theft in progress. When they arrived, McBride was being detained by a Vasa employee, the police statement says.
“The suspect had attempted to steal an orange Dodge Charger but the owner saw him leaving and pulled him out of the vehicle,” say the male suspects’ nearly identical probable cause statements, filed by an officer of the Orem Police Department.
The owner of the Dodge Charger told officers that his gym bag, wallet and $1,000 in cash were stolen.
Evidence
Security footage from earlier appeared to show McBride driving away in a blue Ford F150, rented by another Vasa patron, the statements say.
After the attempted theft of the Charger, McBride claimed he had told a Vasa employee he arrived in a Nissan Armada. On the security footage, McBride and McArthur could be seen arriving in the Armada and walking around the lot.
“The Nissan Armada and Michael McArthur were located within minutes by another agency and detained,” the Orem Police statement says. “Both Patrick McBride and Michael McArthur were both suspects in numerous other Vasa Fitness thefts and burglaries from local gyms.”
When McBride was arrested, he was carrying a black gym bag with property belonging to both victims, the statement said. The blue Ford taken earlier was located just north of the gym.
“Michael McArthur was later interviewed and stated that he and Patrick McBride targeted gyms, including the Vasa located in Orem, and would go inside to steal from lockers and gym bags,” the statement said.
After searching the bags for keys and wallets, Michael McArthur said, they would then use the stolen keys to open cars and steal from them.
McBride and McArthur were booked into jail and ordered held without bail.
