“We never expected the theft to occur from a classmate.”

“Dear PoPville,

This message is both a public service announcement/reminder and a plea from a fellow PoPville community member and yogi. A classmate and I had our wallets stolen tonight during an evening class at 405 Yoga Studio on Florida Ave NE. The three thieves were a bit suspicious from the start by the way they were acting. All three came late, weren’t able to pay up front for the class and had accounts set up with contact information in North Carolina (which we found out after class when the police looked into their registration). About ten minutes into class the three individuals left the class (told the front desk attendant something about not liking the class), gathered their belongings and left. Their belongings also included two wallets which were not theirs. The two of us discovered our wallets were missing promptly after the class ended when we noticed our purses were lighter and fraud alerts already on our phones from credit card companies. Both of us had charges placed at CVS locations in NW DC in the amounts of $495 – $500 (in total thousands of dollars) for what has been described as gift cards by the CVS police reports filed. One additional charge was attempted tonight from a different pharmacy in Oxon Hill Maryland.

Please remember to take your valuables into your yoga classes with you. We thought we were totally safe at this studio because the attendant locks the door after class starts. We never expected the theft to occur from a classmate. I have seen reports of this happening at other studios across the district as well in past months. Also, if you come across a large yellow Kate spade wallet abondoned somewhere please contact PoPville ([email protected]) for my contact info. Thankfully not too much cash was stolen but some irreplaceable items were in the wallet.

Thank you and be safe. Namaste.”