"Golf Bandits" target private clubs along east coast, report says

(CBS) SPRINGFIELD, N.J. - Thieves disguised as golfers have been targeting private clubs up and down the east coast and walking away with credit cards and cash, CBS New York reports.

According to the station, a man wearing a polo shirt, golf pants, a hat and a golf glove, was spotted on surveillance video in Springfield, N.J. posing as a golfer and walking right into the exclusive Baltusrol Golf Club.

"He would enter the club and look for the best way to get to the locker room," said Springfield Police Det. James Mirabile.

Police said the man, identified as Oscar Cabrera, stole the credit cards of three members from open lockers on June 30. According to the station, police say he wasn't working alone. He allegedly had an accomplice named Luis Paz.

Springfield police say the two later went to a Target store in the Township of Union and used the stolen credit cards to buy $8,000 worth of gift cards. The suspects then allegedly went to a different Target and tried to buy another plethora of gift cards.

On July 20, the golf-bandits' plan finally fell apart. When the two crooks allegedly tried to pull off the same crime at Canoe Brook County Club in Short Hills, N.J., employees recognized Cabrera from a police sketch and he was arrested.

Last week, Paz was arrested in Queens, N.Y.

Now police believe the two men may be responsible for a string of thefts at private county clubs in Florida, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts, the station reports.