Woman avoids jail time in fitness center thefts

NEWBURYPORT — A Woburn woman with a long criminal history was banned from the local Planet Fitness earlier this week as part of her plea deal for stealing debit cards from patrons almost two years ago, according to court records. 

Grace Boyle, 29, was ordered to stay away and have no contact with the Storey Avenue facility as well as pay a to-be-determined amount of restitution. She was also ordered to remain drug and alcohol free, with random screens, and pay a $90 fine. 

The sentence comes as a result of a larceny over $250 charge that was continued without finding for two years, meaning if she stays out of legal trouble for two years, the charges will be dropped. A misuse of a credit card charge was also continued without finding for two years. Forgery of a document and uttering false writing charges were dropped. 

Court records show that Boyle had been arraigned 28 other times from March 2008 to July 2013 for charges ranging from forgery, uttering a false check, larceny by check and receiving stolen property, all out of Hingham District Court. 

According to Newburyport police officer John Schmidt’s report, the alleged victims placed their wallets in a locker at the facility before walking to the workout room on Jan. 4, 2014. When they returned, they noticed their wallets had been stolen. Soon after, hundreds of dollars of debit card transactions were reported at a Rite Aid Pharmacy. 

Schmidt visited Rite Aid in search of video footage of the transactions. He also went to Planet Fitness, where he spoke to security officer Robert Grumbles regarding video footage. 

Watching video from both businesses, Schmidt was able to determine that Boyle entered both businesses and the times matched to the theft and the usage of debit cards. Planet Fitness video shows Boyle enter the store with an unidentified man, later identified by checking the fitness center’s guest book. 

“I called Mr. Grumbles back to see if he could get me another video showing the gym area,” Schmidt wrote in his report. 

Video shows them entering the locker room where the alleged theft took place but not the workout area. As Schmidt worked to track down Boyle, he was told that she had recently been locked up in the Hillsborough County Jail related to an incident in Stratham, N.H. A Stratham police officer told Schmidt that upon her arrest in that town, police found two black wallets and a piece of a victim’s credit card. 

Based on the information gathered by Schmidt and a photo array identification by a Rite Aid employee, an arrest warrant was issued for Boyle.