Alende Olteanu, 30, of Queens, New York, has been arrested and charged in connection with a series of locker room thefts across several states, including Connecticut and New York. He is believed to be part of a Romanian-based organized crime ring, according to police.
The case began when a man reported the theft of $500 in cash and two credit cards from his locker at the Darien YMCA on March 7. The stolen cards were used to make a $11,206 purchase at Saks Fifth Avenue in Greenwich.
Police reviewed surveillance footage and identified Olteanu as the suspect. He was arrested in New Jersey and extradited to Connecticut, where he was arraigned on sixth-degree larceny and two counts of credit card theft. His bond was set at $50,000.
Further investigation revealed that Olteanu allegedly used a forged North Dakota driver’s license to obtain day passes at various YMCA locations, where he targeted locker rooms. A second case, from February 11, involved a Rye, New York man whose credit cards were also stolen. Those cards were used for a $22,304 purchase at Tiffany’s and a declined $1,180 attempt at a cosmetics store.
Police in Greenwich and Rye connected Olteanu to similar thefts in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He was identified with help from a British law enforcement agency using advanced facial recognition software.
Olteanu, a Romanian national, is believed to be involved with an international organized crime group. For the Greenwich case, his bond is set at $250,000. He is scheduled to appear in Stamford Superior Court on August 12 for both sets of charges.
