Health-conscious women attending area health clubs are losing more than weight &#8212

they&#8217re also losing their wallets.

Police throughout the region are searching for a thief who has broken into more than a

dozen cars in at least eight fitness center parking lots in Amherst, Cheektowaga, the Town of

Niagara and Buffalo.

The thief appears to have started at Amherst fitness centers shortly before Christmas but

has since been connected to purse snatchings from vehicles in bordering municipalities. The

latest theft was reported this week in North Buffalo.

&#8220They&#8217re happening all over the place,&#8221 said Amherst police Detective Matt

Gould.

The pattern of each theft is similar: The thief waits for a woman to leave her car and

enter the gym. He then smashes the car window and grabs her purse and other valuables, which

in most cases have been left on the front seat in plain view, Gould said.

From there, the thief and his cohorts quickly use the stolen credit cards to fill multiple

cars with gas at the Delta Sonic on Main Street in Buffalo. The stolen cards also are taken to

various bus and Metro Rail stations to purchase $77 monthly passes from automated Niagara

Frontier Transportation Authority kiosks, he said.

&#8220I think it&#8217s probably one person committing the larcenies, and a lot of people

benefiting from the use of the credit cards,&#8221 Gould said.

So far, all of the thefts have taken place between early afternoon and early evening,

according to reports.

Amherst police said the &#8220cardio crook&#8221 has struck the parking lots of the Buffalo

Athletic Club at the Boulevard Mall, World Gym at 5435 Sheridan Drive and Gold&#8217s Gym at

770 Wehrle Drive. Two of the gyms were struck twice.

The Buffalo News confirmed similar incidents at Gold&#8217s Gym at 1402 French Road near

Transit Road in Cheektowaga, Fitness 360 at 2625 Delaware Ave. in Buffalo and World Gym at

1647 Military Road in the Wegmans plaza in the Town of Niagara.

The World Gym location was struck twice last week.

&#8220The use of the credit cards is extremely similar&#8221 to the cases that other

agencies are investigating, said Town of Niagara Police Chief James Suitor.

Tuesday, the windows on three cars were smashed outside the Fitness 19 health club at 2141

Elmwood Ave. in the North Buffalo Tops plaza between 7 and 8 p.m., said Buffalo police

spokesman Michael DeGeorge. A purse was taken from the hatch of one of the vehicles, he said.

DeGeorge said Buffalo&#8217s two Fitness 360 thefts followed a similar pattern to the other

larcenies, but as of Thursday he didn&#8217t know the extent to which the Fitness 19 break-ins

were related to the others.

The World Gym on Military Road in the Town of Niagara now has signs at the gym entrance and

in the women&#8217s workout area and women&#8217s locker room warning female patrons not to

leave their purses in their cars because of the recent thefts.

Other affected health clubs have posted similar signs.

World Gym staff member Meghan Hartman said she has encouraged members to secure their

belongings in gym lockers or to simply leave their purses at home and come to the gym with

their driver&#8217s licenses and IDs only.

She also noted that the facility offers local police officers free membership, &#8220so

they patrol the lot whenever they have a free moment.&#8221

Amherst police said they believe that the main suspect in these cases is a man in his 20s

or 30s who wears a puffy black jacket, jeans, dark boots and a two-tone knit hat, gray on top

and black along the bottom.

The vehicles that were filled with gas using the stolen credit cards include a green, later-

model GMC Jimmy with a sunroof and roof rack and a large black or maroon four-door sedan with

tinted windows, like a Buick Roadmaster or Mercury Marquis.

Amherst police released surveillance photos of a woman who cashed stolen checks from the

fitness club break-ins at two Citizens Bank locations in Buffalo. Police are hoping someone

can identify her.

Anyone with information regarding these crimes should contact Gould at 689-1335.

Gould reminded health club patrons to use common sense about their belongings.

He said the thief is likely sitting in the parking lot, watching people exit their cars and

seeing what belongings they take with them. If patrons don&#8217t want to place their purse or

other valuables in gym lockers, he added, they should not leave those items where they can be

seen.

&#8220At the very least, throw it in your trunk, you know?&#8221 Gould said.

&#8220It&#8217s definitely a crime of opportunity.&#8221