Concession stand worker charged with stealing $15K of personal items from PGA Tour player at Honda Classic
Adrian Meronk competed in last week’s Honda Classic and posted his PGA Tour-best finish. But that accomplishment has been overshadowed by a stranger story.
Meronk, who tied for 14th place, showed up on Feb. 24 for the second round at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and discovered he had been robbed of items left overnight in the players’ locker room. Two of those items, a TrackMan device and Apple iPad, were valued at $15,500.
However, it did not take long for Matthew David Archer, 40, to be arrested and charged with burglary to an unoccupied structure unarmed and larceny-grand theft. Archer, a concession worker at the tournament, was spotted on surveillance footage from the players’ locker room.
According to a Palm Beach Gardens Police report, after Meronk notified officials about the robbery, PGA National security reviewed surveillance footage from the locker room. They discovered a white male with facial hair wearing a black tank top and long black pants entering the room at 8:30 p.m., on Feb. 23. Fourteen minutes later, he is seen leaving the locker room wearing a gray golf shirt and carrying two bags.
The report stated that the security staff showed the footage to Palm Beach Gardens Police officers who were working the security detail at the event and they identified Archer, whom one officer knew. The officer called Archer, asked about the missing items and explained that there was video surveillance footage of him entering the locker room on the night of the incident and exiting with multiple items. He was asked to return the items and, 45 minutes later, Archer arrived at PGA National with the stolen items and was subsequently arrested.
Meronk, a native of Poland who’s ranked 53rd in the world, was grateful his items were recovered.
“I could track the (TrackMan) on the phone so the last seen location was like 600 yards away from the clubhouse in the buildings, so we showed that to the police,” Meronk told Golf Digest. “To be honest, I was shocked. I didn’t even get mad because I didn’t even believe it.”
Archer was still in the Palm Beach County Main Detention Center on Wednesday with a $10,000 bail bond.
