“I'm gonna get me a new iron set,” Gene Hae Park tweeted on Feb. 3.
The 42-year-old PGA golfer out of Buena Park did just that–times eight, according to police.
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Buena Park Police on Monday arrested Park on suspicion of stealing eight full sets of clubs worth $52,000.
The sticks belonged to Korean PGA golfer John Kang and seven of his buddies, who on Jan. 19 were visiting from New Jersey
and New York.
They were all staying in Palm Desert at the Desert Springs Marriott Villas,
which is not New Jersey, and probably why the group didn't think twice
about leaving their clubs in the rental van over night.
But sometime in the early morning hours of Jan. 20, the clubs were swiped.
A month later, police say, a relative of one of the victims saw the victim's set for sale on
EBay. Police identified Park as the seller located in Buena
Park.
A sting was set up and–whamo!–Park got the shaft.
A
search at Park's home turned up two more sets of clubs that had been
stolen from the van, according to officers, who believe he had all eight sets before he
started offloading his pilfered goods and that he was working
with an
accomplice.
So, was Park, who is also the golf instructor at the Candlewood Country Club in Whittier, strapped for cash and desperate for new clubs?
“[sic] haven't worked for three days. golf course still closed,” he tweeted two days after the clubs were stolen.
He was busy selling the clubs during the down time, according to cops.
Or, maybe he was just jealous. John Kang is way more famous in the golf
scene than Park is. And Kang charges $55 for a 30-minute session,
versus Park's measly $50 dollars for 45 minutes.
Park was booked for possession of stolen property at the Buena Park Police station. The Riverside County Sheriff's department says the investigation is ongoing.
I'm betting they'll discover that these two have been golf rivals since
Tiger was in diapers.
