ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A former Disney employee is accused of stealing $7,000 worth of costumes from the Haunted Mansion, according to an Orange County arrest affidavit.
Patrick Spikes, 24, of Winter Garden has been charged with burglary of occupied structure, dealing in stolen property and grand theft.Â
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ARRESTED: Patrick Spikes, 24, sits behind bars and faces charges of burglary, grand theft, and dealing in stolen property. He entered a restricted area of Disney, stole over $7,000 in items and resold them. Special thanks to the tireless efforts of our Sector 6 detectives. pic.twitter.com/ih3SaewzsN
— Orange County Sheriff's Office (@OrangeCoSheriff) May 17, 2019
He is accused of selling the stolen property.
The Orange County Sheriff's Office said it was able to make an arrest due to the tireless efforts of the Sector 6 detectives.
The arrest affidavit shows Spikes is accused of using his Disney employee ID to get into Magic Kingdom on Jul. 31, 2018.
Spikes was caught taking a photo in the utilidor area of Magic Kingdom, this area is for employees only.
On Aug. 8, 2018 Disney reported an Animatronic was stolen from the Cranium Command attraction.
Disney security investigators told authorities they were aware of Spikes taking pictures backstage while employed and running a a social media account showing backstage photos.
The affidavit shows Disney said Spikes had photos on his phone of other Animatrontics that were stolen.
On Dec. 20, 2018 a judge signed a search warrant for Spikes' phone.Â
One of the photos was a piece of merchandise stolen from the Haunted Mansion, according to the affidavit.
On April 26, 2019 officers made contact with a man who said he bought Haunted Mansion merchandise from Spikes, according to the affidavit.Â
The man told police Spikes said he had been able to obtain the items from Disney with permission, according to the affidavit.Â
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