A Philadelphia woman charged by Montgomery Township Police with stealing car keys and debit and credit cards at Planet Fitness pled guilty to felony access device fraud this month and was sentenced to five years probation.
Tierra Melanie Nesmith, 37, of the 2100 block of Homer Street, faced six offenses in two arrests, one of which occurred on Jan. 22, 2025, at the 751 Horsham Road fitness club, according to an affidavit.
According to the criminal record, Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Thomas DelRicci sentenced Nesmith and ordered her to keep away from the victims as well as banned her from all Planet Fitness stores.
A victim living in the township called police on Jan. 22, 2025, at 8 p.m., to report a credit card theft at Planet Fitness earlier that day, according to police. The victim came at 2:07 p.m. and left at 3:10 p.m., leaving her workout bag in an unlocked locker in the women’s locker area, according to police.
According to investigators, her wallet was hidden at the bottom of her luggage under a coat. According to the lawsuit, shortly after leaving the gym, the victim received an alert on her phone from her bank asking if she had authorized $500 in Walgreens purchases. She flagged the transaction, but the purchases of a $500 Amazon gift card and a $500 Target gift card were already complete, according to authorities. However, a transaction at the Giant on Knapp Road was denied, according to the complaint.
The victim examined her luggage and discovered her wallet, but two bank cards and $65 in cash were missing, according to authorities.
On January 23, at 2:48 p.m., officers responded to another report of a stolen credit card at Planet Fitness. When police arrived, the victim told them that the day before, at 1:45 p.m., she had left her coat and possessions in an unlocked locker room.
She went to fetch her items at 3 p.m. and discovered that her car keys were missing from her coat pocket, according to police. According to the complaint, when the victim arrived at her car, she discovered her key sitting on the passenger seat with the door unlocked.
Her purse included a Visa debit card. Bank of America then contacted the victim to report a $500 purchase at Walgreens in Montgomery Township for an Amazon gift card, according to police. According to the complaint, two further transactions at Giant in Montgomery Township were declined: the first for $307 and the second for $400.
Throughout the investigation, police discovered a dark blue 2020 Jeep Grand Cherokee that was involved in both instances as well as a retail theft in Horsham Township in 2023, according to the criminal complaint.
According to authorities, Nesmith was one of the defendants in that incident; she was recognized as the culprit after comparing arrest images to video surveillance footage.
According to the affidavit, Nesmith ran from a traffic stop conducted by Horsham Township Police on January 27. Police identified the motorist as Nesmith before he reportedly fled.
She recently had nine active criminal cases in Montgomery County Magisterial District Court for arrests made between December 19, 2024, and February 6, 2025.
Her most recent arrest was in Abington Township on 11 felonies for burglary, criminal trespassing, and access device fraud, as well as 11 misdemeanors for stealing and receiving stolen property, resulting from an arrest on January 19, according to court documents. Nesmith was detained on $10,077 cash bail.
