A Baltimore man who now resides in Kissimmee, Florida — which is about 10 miles from Walt Disney World Resort — was arrested in May for impersonating a Disney World security guard and stealing expensive items from the Resort. The case was revealed when the Orange County Sheriff’s Office released its arrest records for the past few months. According to the Sheriff’s office, the arrested man’s name is David Proudfoot, although he originally tried to give a different name when approached by actual Disney security.
The Sheriff’s Office reported that, when Proudfoot was arrested, he was wearing a Walt Disney World name tag with the name “David” inscribed on it. Proudfoot was first approached after another security guard at Disney noted his “suspicious”. The report states that Proudfoot was seen pushing a cart across a street and looked like he was headed to one of Disney’s newest hotels, The Swan Reserve. He aroused further suspicion when he could not find the loading dock and didn’t know the proper procedures to follow. That is when deputies from the Sheriff’s office were called.
Police approached Proudfoot and asked him his name and his position. Proudfoot said that his name was David Rodgers and that he worked at Disney’s Yacht Club Resort, but got lost when trying to show them where he worked and couldn’t open an employee locker he said was his. Proudfoot tried several times to convince security officers that he was who he said he was and that he worked at the Yacht Club. They eventually discovered his real identity when they looked in his wallet.
Once Proudfoot admitted to who he really was, he confessed to what he had stolen. Proudfoot told police that he had stolen an R2-D2 replica and had it stored on the third floor of the Swan Reserve. He then admitted to also stealing a Duck Catcher game, which had been on the first floor of the Dolphin hotel. The R2-D2 replica was worth between $6,000 and $10,000 and Duck Catcher was worth $3,500.
Perhaps most surprising was Proudfoot’s excuse as to why he had stolen the items. He claimed that he had an application in with Disney to be a security guard and was trying to show them a weakness in their system. Proudfoot was arrested and charged with the following:
- Scheme to Defraud
- Grand Theft 3rd Degree (of an item worth less than $5,000)
- Petit Theft of $100 or more
- Grand Theft 3rd Degree (of an item between $5,000 and $10,000)
- Obstruction by False Information
This is not the first time that Proudfoot has been arrested for theft. Proudfoot was an educator who worked with the Baltimore County school system when he was charged with stealing $15,000 in “reimbursements” for items he never purchased. The money was stolen when Proudfoot was employed as a principal at an elementary school in 2014, and he was charged in 2015, but had already moved to Florida and was working at a school in the state. He resigned not long after the story of his charges broke.
Proudfoot was also arrested in Orange County this past Valentine’s Day when he purchased a gold necklace at the Four Seasons Orlando and charged it to someone else’s room.