Disney pulled a sting to catch Cast Members stealing from guests at Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – Riverside last month.
A sheriff’s arrest report details how the company pulled off the sting that led to two Cast Members’ arrests with the help of the Orange County Sheriff’s office. It unfolded on March 9. (The sheriff’s office didn’t release the report until this week.)
Disney set hotel room No. 8097 as a decoy. The room, which wasn’t being used by real guests, was covertly video monitored by sheriff’s detectives, who watched the live feed from a neighboring hotel room.
Then Disney left $200 in cash as “bait.”
“The money was placed in a small black backpack and put in camera view,” the sheriff’s report said.
Other items, including an Apple iPad, Apple AirPods, and other personal items, were also left in the hotel room.
At about 9:50 a.m., Disney cast members Raphmarie Cartagena Torres and Aishaleam Abraham Rodriguez entered #8097 with instructions to clean the room.
Torres, 27, of Orlando, was under suspicion and had been the suspect of ongoing thefts, her arrest report said, noting Disney had open investigations on Torres. The initial report doesn’t detail how many thefts previously happened at the hotel and how many other items were taken before.
The sheriff’s report says, “Upon entry (Raphmarie) is seen immediately making entry into the front pocket of the backpack, and removing the cash from the interior of the bag. She is observed counting the money while engaging in conversation with (the other employee.) Raphmarie counts out $65, places it on the television stand, and a hand is seen removing the money from the stand. Raphmarie is then seen rummaging through the rest of the bags in the view of the camera, to include the rest of the bookbag as well as a suitcase on the bench next to the television stand.”
The two women did not take any of the Apple products or other personal items, the report said.
The sheriff’s detectives confronted the two Disney workers after they left the room.
Each woman had $65 in cash that matched the serial numbers from the decoy room money, the report said.
Both women were arrested and charged last month with theft by an employee, according to Orange Circuit Court records.
Torres’ phone was not accepting voicemail messages, so she could not be reached for comment. Rodriguez, 30, of Orlando, also could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
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Off with their heads!
What about WDW they rob me every time I visit)$$$$$$
Interesting. We stayed here recently and also had cash disappear from our room while we were in the parks. We also were missing a few smaller items that we thought maybe just got misplaced but I would bet this had something to do with it. How unfortunate.
My room was robbed as well at The Beach Club. GM admitted (and insisted) that housekeeping had stolen my belongings. I opted not to have the police called because he was adamant that I would be reimbursed for everything I lost and that all I needed to do was provide him a list of items stolen (which totalled over $1,1100.00). It was our last night at Disney and we were leaving very early the next morning, so he said to just send him the list of stolen when I got home. The kids were already shaken and upset because of the theft and security now being in our room, so I agreed not to call the police. Well … big mistake. I did exactly what the GM asked and sent a detailed list, incliding the cost of each item …. Disney never reimbursed me ANYTHING!!
Do you live in Florida? A tactic like the one the GM used to settle disputes like lost items in a hotel is basically taught in hospitality courses. If you know the person is from a different state or lives more than 3 hours away – which they can get from your info when you book the room – you just tell them you will reimburse the items and then hope they leave and never come back.
If I were you, I would call the BBB and file a report against the GM personally. The bad thing is if anything litigious happens it has to happen in the county the event happened in. So if you are from say NY, you would need to fly to FL to settle the dispute.
Hotel managers know this, which is why they are told to diffuse the situation by telling you the best possible outcome, in your case they told you they would reimburse you. They also know you aren’t going to spend money to take them to court over what was probably just a verbal agreement to repay you for your lost items.
Good to know. We are staying at AKL now. Hopefully nothing will happen but if it does I’ll know to reject it and call the police.
So, this may sound crazy but you say you already have a list of items stolen last time? Use that list, report the theft and have the cops come this time. Since the GM never reported the theft in the first place, you can still raise a stink.
Well, I don’t know too many people who just leave cash lying around their hotel room. You just plain asked for the cash to be stolen.
Reporting to the BBB is a waste of time.
Whats the surprise? Disney has been robbing people blind for years
Who was the GM? You can send anything the GM gave you to prove your loss to Ashley Moody, the Florida State Attorney General, and find out what recourse you may have.
You had over a million dollars worth of what stolen?
They have to know how prevalent this is. They should post warnings to leave anything of value in the safe. I walked in on a maid while on a Disney Cruise, going through my things. I should have reported it, but I didn’t.
The problem is that those safes are reset by housekeeping. They could just reset the lock, open it, take what they want, close it with a new combo. When you try to access it but won’t open they just send someone from gust services to reset it again. My husband works in the security field with safes and locks like they use in hotels and even more secure levels, he never uses the safe.
Years and years ago we had stuff stolen by housekeeping at the contemporary. I would say early 80’s. My mom was missing an outfit and I was missing my favorite pair of earrings. I remember searching the room and looking behind the dresser and seeing wads of gummy candy behind it. I thought that was gross. We reported the items missing to management and were reimbursed. For several years after my dad used to tie up the closets (put anything valuable inside) with string around the handles when we left the room
Great idea, thank you!
If you aren’t smart enough to lock up your valuable belongings in a hotel room then well… I’m not saying you deserve to be robbed but perhaps you should be traveling with an adult.
We had a camera bag and tickets stolen from our room years ago and the only thing Disney reimbursed us for was our tickets
Perhaps if they paid their “cast members” better, theft wouldn’t be such an issue. We all know Disney has the means to do so.
still not a reason to steal
So if you choose to work somewhere and you feel you’re not being paid enough that means you get to steal? I don’t want to live in your world. No one is forcing these people to work at these places. And I’m sorry you shouldn’t be making $20 a hour to clean a room.
Thats a BS response a persons wages are NO excuse for committing a crime
guessing you work in housekeeping for Disney….
Omg. This is the dumbest answer ever. So everyone who feels they are not being paid enough has the right of passage to steal? Nice blaming it on others for the reason they steal. Wow.
Oh he’ll no?! Nobody is obligated to accept a job or stay at a job that doesn’t pay well. Not getting paid enough does not give anyone the right to steal from others. Get a better job! Get 2 jobs!
Agreed on the pay but don’t make excuses for bad behavior. They should have known better and termination was the right course of action.
Really? The most ridiculous comment on the site.
The moral of your story… If you don’t pay me enough, I’ll just steal from your guests? Becca, you’ve demonstrated how to be a great American and parent!
This seems to be the mantra of many people in the US….that it’s ok to steal because of low wages. Stealing other’s property is morally and criminally wrong. Get another job if you aren’t being paid a living wage. You took the job knowing what was paid. Plus you get tipped afterwards if you do a good job! Hey, just be a good person that doesn’t think stealing is OK. It’s not.
That is about the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard in my life. Have you thought people spend their money on things they shouldn’t. Some people need to manage their money better. Weather it’s nit smoking if their unable to pay their bills. Or maybe not buy a new car if the car their driving is still a good running car. Are you really that ignorant. People need to learn to live within their means. You can’t make $200 a day and spend $220 a day you go into the red. If someone can’t make it on the money they make then they need to either slow down on what they spend or find another job or hey here’s a thought GET A PART TIME JOB. WOW now there’s a thought. Don’t blame the company they work for. In the United States there is a minimum wage for workers. If you can’t live off that there is other ways to make money and stealing is not a good way to supplement your income because if your caught steal you could get your arm broke or if you steal from the wrong person you could die. Dumbasses like you need to for pull your head out your ass. You’ll know you pulled your head out when you hear a loud pop.
If an employee can’t figure out another legal way to live with the wages they agreed to accept when they took the position, without robbing the rooms that they’re cleaning, perhaps they deserve to be in jail.
That’s the most stupid reason for stealing from guests. Nobody to blame except the thieves.
This happened to me staying at Swan and Dolphin back in 2016. I had candy in the room and about half of it went missing when we came back later that evening. There’s no telling what else they did.
Swan and Dolphin do not belong to Disney. They lease the land. Their employees are not Cast Members.
My family stayed there about 10 years ago, housekeeping stole about 1000 dollars worth of clothes, shoes, and eletronic games from us. The hotel security accused me of lying about it, I had to have the police department come and throw security out of room. They denied everything about theft and offered 500 dollars to settle the issue. Absolutely horrible place to stay, I tell everyone I know to stay for away from this place.
Funny, was there last month was not advised verbally or in writing that they do a “wellness check” in your room each day even with the sign on door to deter entry. Their way around that is to refer to the fine print that states they can come in any time for any reason, as no reasonable person would assume to be daily to “check” your room for no reason.
Bad policy to foster bad behavior, they know it’s wrong or they would openly advise guests this is what they are doing.
I guess they learned from the best. After all Disney is robbing all the guest blind by constantly raising prices and giving less service. Shame on Disney
Our iPad was stolen by housekeeping at Polynesian in December of 2014. Thanks to location services we were able to provide the police and Disney with the location. Bc they were total idiots we were also able to provide PICTURES of the person who stole it when they uploaded to our cloud. The police and Disney still did nothing!
This whole thing breaks my heart. I used to work front desk at Riverside and French Quarter. There were occasionally thefts, but the people were always caught and terminated. I remember Disney recruiting for the opening of Kidani Village without vetting them, which resulted in massive theft from Housekeeping. The resort lost lamps, tables, chairs, towels, etc. I worked in merchandise at Jambo House at the time, and we were floored, because at Disney, you’re part of a team. You don’t steal from your team.
Ya that’s the problem…
My husband had his wallet stolen. We went for early breakfast at Ohanas not a soul around us. He accidently left his wallet on the table. Before even leaving restaurant he noticed it,went ba k to the table. The table was cleared along with wallet. Busboy and waitress said they didn’t see it. We were only occupied table in that area. So infuriating reporting cards stolen while on vacation. Thankfully only $300 in wallet but boy they got big tip off us. Live and learn.
This happens EVERYWHERE not just Disney. DON’T Leave valubles in you room!! Stupid move people!!
Same thing happened to our family on our very first ever trip there. We were at the pop century one. Haven’t been beck since.
Yes,I stay at the Radisson blu in Disney California and they stold some beautiful heart shape diamond earrings from me, told front desk would call everyday and they gave me the run around,they treated me like I was crazy,,so be careful staying there that place really broke my ❤
Buying a Disney park ticket doesn’t guarantee entrance unless you also reserve an entry spot.
It’s the most hideous setup ever. In Disney’s favor.
Don’t plan to go there again.
I watched a YouTube video of a former housekeeping employee and she said that they had teams that would search for “contraband,weapons, etc” in the rooms. She said it was awkward when the guests were in the room at the time.
Wow, I’d expect this more from off-site hotels instead of Disney branded hotels. We stayed in an off-site hotel outside of Disneyland and left our change (which had to over $20) on the dresser. The first day that we had housekeeping clean the room, instead of stealing it, they cleaned it up and put it in a cup for us.
Never felt like we had to worry about housekeeping stealing from us. Then again, our expensive electronics are usually in the park with us and the cash is hidden better. There’s a reason they make locks for luggage.
Whats the surprise? Disney has been robbing people blind for years
This is why we always denied housekeeping. Then hotels made some rule about needing to get into your room to make sure you were setting up sniper equipment like the Vegas shooting. Regardless we never left anything of real value in our room just in case. I grew up with a brother who would go through my things and take stuff so I learned to not trust anyone. Diamonds don’t need to go to Disney. Who wants to worry about that stuff while enjoying a day at the parks?
I’ve had jewelry and expensive perume stolen from my room at both, the Royal Hawaiian and Sheraton Waikiki Hotels and another on the waterfront which is the oldest hotel there…..I reported it and security told me it was definitely an inside job. Was very sad because all the cash belonged to my young trusting little daughter which her Great Grandmother and several other family members gave her; first day there and that child couldn’t buy anything for herself or anyone.
This happened to my daughter March 2022 at all Star Movie Resort with her high school band. She didn’t report it – rose gold ears circa 2018 ($50 on e-bay used), nor did her friends that had Disney jewelry taken. She was upset and told me – so I did report it to the front desk at the Contemporary where we parents were staying. I was told to fill out lost and found and then call upon returning home. I spent 3 hours on the phone at home – only to be disconnected. Before being disconnected I had a fella tell me that he had been a cast member for 36 years and thefts simply don’t happen at Disney and that he was shocked. I rolled my eyes and simply asked for him direct me to a place to where I could replace the ears. I filed lost and found – item not found … no kidding. I also filed 2 reports – to the central email hub. I heard back that I should file a lost and found report. It’s a circle for sure – no apologies, no extra set of ears, no supervisor – nada. So, it does happen and no – you likely will not get a replacement or even an apology.
My mother was in a Disney restroom when someone reached their arm over stall door and grabbed her purse off of hook. They took the wallet out and threw the purse back over stall at her. It all happened so quickly. They got away with $500. Disney did nothing about it.
When I worked for Disney Security, I always advised guest to put all valuable items in your suitcase and lock 🔒 the suitcase. This will indeed reduce theft. I used to get a lot of theft calls and I always suggested to the guest to buy a small lock to secure your items in the suitcase. Fortunately, before the end of my shift, I found various items and I personally brought the items back to them. I would have the guest describe it and if the description was a match, I gave the items back to them.
I was robbed by housekeeping while staying at Fort Wilderness in November. Luckily my bank called and shut my card off (hassle while on vacation) and housekeeper used most on Instacart purchases so it was very easy for them to track. Instacart was very helpful – Disney not so much. I had the name, address, etc of person who stole my card and it was confirmed to be the housekeeper. Disney just took the report and that was the end of their involvement.