Former NBA player Dennis Rodman is accused of helping steal a 400-pound crystal and other objects from a Newport Beach yoga studio, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Vibes Hot Yoga co-owner Ali Shah told the newspaper that on Tuesday afternoon, he watched on live security footage as Rodman entered the store with a former employee of the business and another man and woman.
Shah said the security footage shows the group working together to distract a current employee so they could steal clothes and other materials from the store’s displays.
“It’s clear as daylight,” Shah said of the surveillance video. Rodman disputes the claim. He told TMZ that he wasn’t stealing, but rather that the studio gave them the merchandise.
“They gave us the clothes,” Rodman told the celebrity news site.
He separately told KCBS-TV that he was told he could “get anything you want.”
“I said, ‘OK, great,’” Rodman told the television station.
Police are investigating the allegations and no arrests have been made. The former studio employee reportedly met Rodman while she was working as an Uber driver, according to Shah, who co-owns the business with his wife, Ariana.
Someone in the group Rodman was with allegedly told the store employee on duty that the “ginormous geode amethyst crystal” being sold for $2,500 was one of theirs and they were taking it.
“They gave me false information,” the current employee said.
She added that Rodman asked her to show him the studio, which required her to leave the front desk for approximately one minute. Rodman had never previously been to the studio.
Shah further alleges that one of the women in the group stuffed products into a purse and brought clothes into a restroom so she could remove the hangers.
Meanwhile, an unidentified man attempted to move the geode crystal onto a hand truck, but he dropped the crystal and it shattered. The group collected the pieces but still left shards on the ground and about $5,000 in damage to the store’s floor.
The encounter lasted only about 20 minutes. Shah, watching the scene unfold offsite via the security cameras, notified police and got in contact with the employee.
Police officers then arrived about 10 minutes after the group left.
The following day, Rodman was back at the studio and allegedly again attempted to distract an employee while a woman took several pieces of clothing, according to Shah.
Rodman was allegedly thrusting his hips and gyrating, according to TMZ, and the pair appeared to be under the influence and smelled like alcohol.
“It was sloppy,” Shah said.
Among the merchandise stolen: $359 leggings, a $300 top and additional objects that were priced between $100 and $118.
Shah described the incident as bizarre: “This is a weird, freak situation,” he said.
[Feature Photo: Dennis Rodman via AP/Lynne Sladky]
