One woman lost her Pandora souvenirs. Another man was robbed of $400 in cash. Law enforcement investigated a wave of stroller thefts that occurred on a single summer day at EPCOT and Disney’s Animal Kingdom, according to a new sheriff’s report recently obtained by WDWNT.
WDWNT previously reported a man was caught stealing car keys from a stroller parked at the France pavilion in EPCOT on July 21 and then rummaging through the stranger’s Kia. Ahmed Snina, 24, of Orlando, was arrested and has been charged with two felonies for burglary and motor vehicle grand theft. He pleaded not guilty last week, court records show.
We have now obtained records that show three more people reported thefts from their strollers that very same day at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and the sheriff’s office suspected they may have been connected with Snina.
The three people reported items taken from their strollers while they were watching the Festival of the Lion King show or riding DINOSAUR on July 21, according to an Orange County Sheriff’s report.
(If you’re asking why we’re writing about something that happened in July now, it’s because it took the Orange County Sheriff’s Office more than two months to respond to a public records request.)
One 42-year-old woman said she used the Lightning Lane to ride DINOSAUR. She was gone for only 30 minutes, but when she returned at 6:20 p.m., her stroller had been moved to a different spot, and all her Disney bags with the souvenirs she’d bought that afternoon in Pandora: The World of Avatar were missing. The stolen items included a bow and arrow, two Banshees, and four T-shirts.
A 21-year-old man parked his stroller outside the theater as he headed into the Festival of the Lion King show. When the show was over, all the bags he had left in the stroller — including his wallet with his bank card and $400 in cash — were missing. Using his bank card, someone had fraudulently tried to spend $34.60 at Miller’s Ale House on Vineland Road, but the transaction was prevented from going through.
The third victim, a 29-year-old woman, also left her bags in the stroller, but she had a stroke of luck. Her items — the sheriff’s report doesn’t describe what was actually in the bags — were found in the companion bathroom across from the Tusker House Restaurant, so nothing ended up getting stolen after all.
The sheriff’s report is heavily redacted, but the three unidentified victims all said they are willing to prosecute and will testify in court if necessary.
The sheriff’s report noted these three incidents may be related to Snina’s alleged crimes.
Snina has been charged in connection with stealing the Kia and the stroller in EPCOT, but he does not appear to be charged with any crimes related to the Animal Kingdom stroller thefts.
Snina is represented by the public defender’s office, which could not be reached for comment. Snina did not return a voicemail for comment Wednesday.
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The post Walt Disney World Guests Leave Avatar Banshees, Wallets, and Bundles of Cash in Their Strollers, Become Victims in Large String of Thefts at EPCOT & Animal Kingdom appeared first on WDW News Today.