In New Jersey, a pair of thieves were arrested after dressing as golfers, sneaking into locker rooms at high-end clubs and stealing credit cards from members’ lockers. In Connecticut, a lawyer was charged with stealing staff members’ golf bags and clubs after breaking into pro shops.

CBS New York reported on August 7th that a pair of thieves had been arrested in New Jersey after dressing as golfers to sneak into locker rooms at high-end country clubs and steal credit cards from members’ lockers.

The thieves were apprehended after raiding several clubs in New Jersey, including Baltusrol Golf Club and Canoe Brook Country Club, CBS New York reported, but only after using the stolen credit cards to purchase thousands of dollars’ worth of gift cards at Target. Employees at Canoe Brook reportedly recognized one of the suspects on July 20 from a police sketch, which led to his arrest.

“He would enter the club and look for the best way to get to the locker room,” Springfield (N.J.) detective James Mirabile said of Oscar Cabrera, one of the men who allegedly made his way into the locker room at Baltusrol.

According to the report, the thieves took great care to appear legitimate, each wearing a golf glove when entering the locker rooms. The report also said the pair may be responsible for a string of similar thefts at country clubs in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Florida.

In Connecticut, the Fairfield Citizen reported that a local lawyer was arrested on a warrant on August 7th, charged once again with stealing golf clubs.

Garrett A. Denniston, 35, of Fairfield, Conn., who works with the firm of Bishop, Jackson and Kelly in Milford, Conn., was charged with third-degree burglary and third-degree larceny, the paper said. Denniston allegedly broke into the pro shop at the H. Smith Richardson Golf Course the evening of May 29, and stole two staff golf bags with clubs, one valued at $1,000 and the second at $2,500.

According to a police report, the golf bags and clubs were apparently found when police executed search warrants of his home following an arrest in June for stealing a golf bag from the Patterson Club.

The Citizen said Denniston sold some of the stolen clubs to a business in Portland, Conn., and police said they found receipts for the sale of the Smith Richardson golf bags. Denniston apparently received $1,000 for the clubs.

The theft occurred May 29, according to police, when the bartender at Smith Richardson Clubhouse said she saw a man run out of the woods around closing time. She heard a loud bang apparently resulting from a break-in, became scared, and quickly left. She described the man as white, in his 20s, about 5 feet, 11 inches or 6 feet tall, with a stocky build and pale skin. She also said she saw an Audi sedan parked on the side of the road near the woods.

Denniston was driving a 2006 Audi A4 when he was arrested at the Patterson Club, police said. He is also suspected of a similar incident on June 6 at the Fairchild Wheeler Golf Course. Denniston was released on a $1,000 bond and scheduled to be arraigned in Bridgeport, Conn. Superior Court.