LAKEWOOD, Colo. — Denver Police arrested a man suspected of stealing thousands of dollars worth of golf gear from public courses across the metro area.
Ron Zeits, 52, was booked into the Denver jail on suspicion of two counts of theft of golf bags and clubs from Denver's Kennedy and Willis Case golf courses.
The stolen goods amount to more than $12,000 in those two incidents, an affidavit said. The total he's accused of stealing could climb as golf courses from Englewood, Westminster and Lakewood all reported similar thefts.
On Friday, a spokesperson for the City of Westminster said a different suspect in the golf theft in that city was arrested last week.
The trend prompted Denver and Lakewood to send out alerts urging golfers to avoid leaving their gear unattended.
In the affidavit, officers say Zeits wore a white polo shirt and blue ball cap – appearing to blend in with the golf crowd – while grabbing an unattended bag and fleeing in a Nissan Xterra that appeared to have a ladder on top.
Mitch Rodio, 18, said his clubs were stolen from the Fox Hollow golf course in Lakewood on Monday. He stepped into the clubhouse to pay – and found his kit missing when he returned.
"At first I'm thinking maybe somebody else just accidentally took it and then it just kind of hit me like they could also be stolen," he said. "They were my first adult clubs."
He said the clubs were worth more than $2,000 – on the cheaper end of the gear Zeits is accused of stealing. The Denver affidavits say he pawned at least some of the clubs.
"I have no idea where my clubs are. And I don't know if I'll get them back either," Rodio said. "It doesn't feel good."
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