By Jill Colvin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MIDTOWN EAST — Police have arrested a man suspected of robbing lockers inside a Midtown Bally gym at least twice in the past month, and they believe he may also be tied to a string of similar robberies across the city.
Alonzo Cayenne, 35, of Queens, was arraigned Saturday on charges he used a stolen ID card to gain access to the Bally Total Fitness club at 45 East 55th St. at Madison Avenue, and break into members' lockers, according to his criminal complaint.
Cayenne, who has a lengthy criminal record, allegedly used a bolt cutter to get the locks off of the lockers, before cleaning out the most valuable contents — including a $1,400 watch, according to police sources.
Cayenne allegedly hit the gym on April 1 and 14, according to the complaint. He has not yet been charged in several other incidents at Bally gyms in the Upper East Side, Brooklyn and Queens, but police sources said they are looking at him in connection to the robberies.
Police are also hunting for a woman suspected of carrying out separate thefts in the same gym's women's locker room.
Cayenne allegedly swiped into the Midtown Bally gym around 6:15 p.m. on April 1 using the stolen member ID card, and was caught on surveillance camera entering the men's locker room carrying a duffel bag and leaving shortly afterwards, according to prosecutors.
About an hour later, a member returned to his locker in the men's locker room and found his combination lock cut off and a $1,400 watch missing, according to police sources.
While gyms can't use cameras inside the locker rooms, police sources said they pored over surveillance footage with Bally managers, who pointed out Cayenne because they didn't recognize him.
After searching a database of previous offenders, police tracked down his ID and gave Bally a copy of his photo and instructed them to call the next time he swiped in, sources said.
On April 14, Cayenne returned to the Bally gym carrying a duffel bag at about 7:45 p.m. and headed for the locker room, according to court documents. Managers called police who followed Cayenne to 57 Park Avenue, where he was apprehended carrying a wallet containing a debit card and MetroCard that a club member had locked in his locker several hours before, the documents showed.
A police source said Cayenne was also carrying a bolt cutter and a set of keys, which they later discovered opened a padlock on the locker next to the one Cayenne allegedly broke into. The victim's remaining belongings, including his clothes, were discovered stashed inside, leading police to believe that Cayenne had shifted the contents to avoid scrutiny, allowing him to rifle through for valuables before making his escape.
Cayenne was ordered held on $15,000 bail and charged with burglary, identity theft, grand larceny and possession of stolen property. He returned to Manhattan Criminal Court on Wednesday and had not yet been arraigned.
His lawyer, Sharyn Henry, declined to comment.
Cayenne had previously been convicted of identity theft and grand larceny, according to court documents, and police believe he may be connected to a string of other recent gym locker room thefts on the Upper East Side, in Brooklyn and in Queens, sources said.
Long-time Midtown East Bally gym member Peggy Caruso, 50, said this isn't the first time the gym has been targeted and that there were a string of thefts there last summer, too.
"There are a lot of people that are disgruntled by Bally," she said, adding that she makes sure never to leave valuables in her locker.
One staffer said the gym installed a large new video surveillance system by the front desk last month, but denied that the new gear was prompted by the recent robberies.
Bally's public affairs office did not respond to calls for comment.
