Thief uses driving service to steal golf clubs

TROY, Mich. (WJBK) - A greedy golfer snagged a new set of clubs without shelling out any green, but did employ an unsuspecting "caddy" for his crime.

Police in Troy say the retail theft happened at Golfsmith golf shop located on Big Beaver Road last Wednesday during the daytime. The man they're looking for went on a stealing spree.

Police don't have video or pictures to show at this time, but say the man stole $1,200 worth of merchandise.

Sgt. Meghan Lehman of the Troy Police Department says this type of thing is somewhat common.

"We see it once in a while," she said. "Someone walks in. They pretend they're doing some legitimate business in the store and walks out with the merchandise. We have seen it before and as far as golf clubs go, they're a fairly frequently stolen item."

Troy police say the man went into the store and grabbed everything he could get his hands on and once workers noticed something wasn't right, he bailed.

"The store employees picked up on this man, selected the items really quickly and walked through the door," Lehman said. "Didn't walk toward the door. Didn't ask any question -- that’s a little unusual. The man was a little unusual."

Police say the man used a driving service called R&M Luxury.

The suspect was picked up at 19 & a Half Mile Road and Van Dyke in Sterling Heights and brought to the store.

He told the driver he needed to go pick up clubs that were being repaired.

The driver later took the suspect to a business at 9 Mile and Van Dyke in Warren.

"We understand they advertise on Craigslist. It's a luxury car service. The suspect provided the name Jim to the driver and he was picked up on the east side, 19 and Van Dyke area. So if someone knows somebody that suddenly had $1,200 worth of golf clubs from the east side that goes by the name Jim, that's who we're looking for," Lehman said.

Police say the driver had no knowledge of the crime until investigators contacted him.