Florida Man Arrested for Stealing an Expensive Disney World Item

The “reason” may leave you a bit puzzled.

Florida Man Arrested

A man from Florida was arrested on Disney World property on May 31. The incident took place at the Swan Reserve, which is located in the Crescent Lake area. While Marriott owns and operates the Swan and Dolphin hotels, the hotels still sit on Disney World property.

The 44-year old acted suspiciously, and hotel security approached the man. He was pushing the cart containing said expensive item (more on that in a bit) and a name tag that said “David.” Hotel security say he looked very confused and lost so hotel staff called the Orange County Sheriff’s office to the scene.

The man told officers he was a Disney employee (he was wearing an orange work vest and said name tag). This then led to the man and officers over to Disney’s Yacht Club Resort so he could retrieve proper identification. Once there, deputies said he wandered around the resort searching for an employee locker room.

Once he located the locker room, he could not get any of the lockers to open. Officers then noticed the wallet he had on himself. The identification proved he did not work at Disney World.

What He Stole

So, what was the expensive item in question? The man was caught wheeling away a $10,000 replica of R2-D2. TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS.

The man was caught wheeling away a $10,000 replica of R2-D2.

Yes, when both hotel security and Orange County deputies approached him, he was pushing a $10,000 item in a rolling cart. The man admitted to moving the R2-D2 droid from the third floor of the Swan Hotel to an unknown location on the property.

In addition to the $10,00 droid he is also accused of taking bathroom products, light fixtures, a towel cabinet, and a game machine. These came from several Disney World resorts like the Boardwalk, Grand Floridian, and Fort Wilderness.

Why He Stole It

He claims he applied for a Disney World security position, and he stole these items in an attempt to prove there are “weaknesses in the security at the resorts.” Well, it looks like he can no longer make that claim.

The 44-year old male faces a number of charges, including grand theft, scheme to defraud, burglary of a structure, tampering with a coin-operated machine and obstruction by false information. Right now, he resides at an Orange County jail.

He claims he applied for a Disney World security position, and he stole these items in an attempt to prove there are “weaknesses in the security at the resorts.”

We want to remind you Disney does an excellent job keeping Guests and Cast Members safe. You may remember our recent reporting of a women trying to steal hundreds of dollars in Loungeflys and Spirit Jerseys at Hollywood Studios last week. You can read about that HERE.

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