For many people, going to the gym provides a healthy outlet to release stress, but on Wednesday night, one woman left a Norfolk gym worked up before working out.
After tanning in one of the stand-up tanning beds at the Planet Fitness located at 4245 E. Little Creek Road, Lanie said she saw something she’ll never forget.
As Lanie was pulling her sports bra over her shoulders, she looked up and said she saw two fingers pushed through a hole in the corner of a ceiling tile directly above the tanning bed she’d just been standing nearly nude in. The fingers, she said, seemed to be moving the ceiling tile back in place.
“I heard a sound and turned around,” Lanie said. “That’s when I saw the fingers pulling the tile up. I realized that someone could see me.”
Panicked that she wasn’t alone, Lanie screamed to alert gym staff. The manager, accompanied by a trainer, brought a ladder into the room and moved the ceiling tile. When the trainer looked around the crawlspace above the tiles, no one was found.
Officers on the scene did not immediately find anyone in the crawlspace. Officer Daniel Hudson, a public information officer with the Norfolk Police Department, confirmed that there is an ongoing investigation into the incident.
“The safety of our members is a priority at Planet Fitness, and we are aware of an incident that took place at the Planet Fitness location in Norfolk, Virginia,” said Becky Zirlen, public relations manager for Planet Fitness. “We quickly investigated with local police and are cooperating with authorities during the investigation.”
According to Lanie, the trainer did find a small hole cut in the ceiling tile. Staff members emptied all of the tanning rooms and inspected ceiling tiles in each room. Lanie said the trainer found similar holes cut in ceiling tiles in each room, each located directly over the tanning bed.
“I’ve been going there for six years and have been tanning there ever since. The gym has been my sanctuary,” Lanie said. “I’m not the only one, obviously. I’m just the only one that saw it happen. I just don’t want it to keep happening.”
When called on Thursday afternoon, an employee confirmed that the tanning beds were open for member use.
Editor’s note: Southside Daily is not publishing Lanie’s full name because of the nature of the allegations.
