Theft – A Walk With The Mouse

Father/Daughter Duo Jailed After Stealing Hundreds in Disney World Merchandise

Posted on February 7, 2024February 7, 2024 by Mathew Corn Disney Parks

Taking a Walt Disney World Resort vacation is such a magical experience for the millions of people who do it every year. There is so much to see and do! Guests can visit the four main theme parks — Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, EPCOT, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. There are also two water parks — Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach — as well as Disney Springs.

Disney Springs is a massive shopping and dining area, full of dozens of restaurants, and great Disney-themed shops like World of Disney, Art of Disney, and Goofy’s Candy Company. There are also a huge number of stores for guests to enjoy that are not Disney-themed, like Anthropologie, Basin, Tommy Bahama, and the Coca-Cola Store.

Thousands of people visit Disney Springs every day, and many of them are there with nothing but pure intentions. However, there are also those who head to the area with more nefarious plans in mind. But, thankfully, Disney security is always on the ball, ready to stop those people.

The Daily Mail shared a video, showing officers from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office approaching a man as he shopped in the massive World of Disney Store. Disney works with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and pays them to have officers not only in Disney Springs, but also monitoring the parks — along with their K-9 units — at all times.

The deputies approached the man while he was shopping in World of Disney with his wife and daughter. They were then taken backstage, where the mother was informed that the man and daughter were seen, on camera, stealing merchandise from the Oakley store. The woman was told she was free to go because she was not seen on the video.

Later in the video, multiple pairs of sunglasses can be seen sitting on a box, while the officers add up how much the merchandise was worth — almost $1,500. The man and his daughter were then informed that they would not only be banned from all Disney property, but that they were also being taken to the Orange County Jail.

father daughter steal oakley disney springs

The daughter repeatedly said that it was their first day at Disney World. She also told the officers that she recently had surgery, but that had nothing to do with the theft. She also informed them that she was a first-grade teacher and that she did not want to lose her job. Unfortunately, it does not look like she thought about that BEFORE she stole the merchandise.

The daughter also tries telling police that she was merely holding the bag, but that doesn’t appear to match with what was seen on the security footage.

Disney takes cases of theft at its resorts very seriously. Another man was recently handcuffed and hauled away by Anaheim Police Officers when he was caught stealing in the Downtown Disney District of the Disneyland Resort.

Man Arrested For Stealing 10K R2-D2 Replica From Walt Disney World

Posted on July 5, 2022July 5, 2022 by Mathew Corn Disney Parks

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.

Disney Housekeepers Caught Stealing In Undercover Sting Operation

Posted on April 27, 2022April 27, 2022 by Mathew Corn Disney Parks, Disney Resorts

A couple of Disney employees were recently caught in an undercover sting operation that you won’t’ believe.

It was recently reported that two employees of the Walt Disney World Resort were arrested after unknowingly taking part in an undercover operation. As stated in the sheriff’s arrest report from the Orange Country Sheriff’s office, Walt Disney World pulled a sting operation alongside police that led to two housekeeping Cast Members getting arrested at the Disney Resort.

On March 9, 2022, Disney worked alongside the Orange County Sheriff’s office in order to investigate suspicions regarding ongoing thefts at Disney Resort Hotels.

According to the report, Disney set up a decoy hotel room at the Port Orleans – Riverside Resort after suspicions rose of two Cast Members – Raphmarie Cartagena Torres and Aishaleam Abraham Rodriguez. Once the room was set up, number 8097, sheriff’s detectives covertly watched a live video feed from a neighboring hotel room on Disney property. The hotel room was not used by actual Guests but was set up to look like it was.

According to the arrest report, Torres, 27, was the suspect in a series of ongoing thefts at the property, resulting in Disney being skeptical in the first place.

In the decoy room, Disney left $200 in cash as bait. The sheriff’s report states that “the money was placed in a small black backpack and put in camera view.” Other items were also included in the room such as Apple products and other personal items that could be easily stolen. Around9:50 a.m. on March 9, the Cast Members under suspicion entered the hotel room with instructions to clean the Walt Disney World Resort room. The sheriff’s report details that:

upon entry (Raphmarie) is seen immediately making entry into the front pocket of the backpack, and removing the cash from the interior of the bag. Raphmarie counts out $65, places it on the television stand, and a hand is seen removing the money from the stand. Raphmarie is then seen rummaging through the rest of the bags in the view of the camera.

disney world cinderella castle wedding aisle evening

Once the Cast Members had left the room, sheriff’s detectives confronted the two Disney Cast Members outside. Each had taken $65 in cash that matched the serial numbers from the money left in the decoy room. Both women were arrested and charged last month with theft by an employee, according to Orange Circuit Court records. None of the other items were stolen from the decoy room.

Though it is rare for incidents such as these to happen at Walt Disney World, it is interesting to see how Disney and the police work together to help combat criminal activity. Usually, we see things like this happen with other Guests but according to the report, even Cast Members can engage in illegal activity.

It is always advisable to keep valuable items or cash kept in a safe location if you have to leave them in your rooms. Disney World Resort hotels have a safe that Guests are free to use if they would like.