Fitness equipment worth more than $140,000 stolen from Mackay gym

More than 30 items of fitness equipment have been stolen from the former Anytime Fitness Mackay gym days before being transported to new owners in Townsville.

With the Anytime Fitness franchise no longer operational and the site, as Australasian Leisure Management understands, set to reopen as a new gym brand, when removalists arrived to transport the 30 items of equipment it was no longer in the building.

Townsville Anytime Fitness franchisee Troy Cooper told local newspaper the Daily Mercury that he had purchased the equipment from the landlord of the Mackay gym for $144,000 in June.

However, in the 48 hours prior to its pick up the equipment was removed.

Cooper said his team had dismantled the machines earlier to make it easier for the removalists to pack but he received a call on 22nd July from his removalist, asking where all the gear was.

Cooper told the Daily Mercury “the removalist told me ‘its empty, the whole building is completely empty’.

“I was absolutely gutted.”

Cooper said none of the equipment was insured and unless they got it back, they would be out of pocket for the amount he had paid, noting “we’ve done the right thing, we purchased the equipment and we did it through lawyers.”

Queensland Police initially believed the facility was broken into between midday on Tuesday 20th and 4.30pm on Wednesday 21st July, but Cooper said he had received new information that indicated the incident may have started on the preceding Monday.

Cooper went on to advise “the information we have is that some workers in the city spotted a flat-tray truck and a forklift at the site on Monday night and Tuesday day.

“We think they’ve backed up the truck and taken panels off the roof and then rolled up the roller door from inside and loaded it back there.

“From the street it looked like any other day, it seems quite calculated.”

Cooper is appealing for anyone with dashcam footage or businesses with CCTV to reach out.

Queensland Police are urging anyone with information to contact Policelink or report it anonymously via Crime Stoppers.

This is not the first instance involving the theft of gym equipment in Mackay.

In July last year, a large amount of equipment was stolen from the in-house gym of the Brothers Rugby League Football Club in Mackay.

At the time, Brothers Football Manager Randall Rogers said the "most disappointing" aspect of the theft was that there was no evidence of forced entry, leading the Club to believe someone with a key to the gym had helped themselves to the equipment.