A man accused of posing as a professional basketball player allegedly stole a $90,000 BMW SUV from a hotel in Georgia. The incident occurred at the Hyatt Regency Savannah around 12:30 a.m. on August 14, according to a police report obtained by WSB-TV. The suspect reportedly walked through the hotel lobby and retrieved belongings from a white Audi before presenting a valet ticket for a gray 2026 BMW X5. Investigators stated that the suspect claimed to be a professional basketball player with multiple vehicles at the hotel before driving off in the BMW.
The BMW was a loaner vehicle owned by a dealership for a hotel guest. The dealership later tracked the vehicle to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, leading Savannah police to notify local authorities and list the vehicle as stolen in state and national databases. Investigators also found that the white 2025 Audi A5, which the suspect was seen in prior to the theft, had been reported stolen the day before. The Audi was discovered unlocked in the hotel’s parking garage later that morning without visible damage.
The suspect has been linked to another hotel valet theft in Savannah that occurred nearly two weeks earlier. On August 5, a guest at a Fairfield Inn left her black 2019 Toyota C-HR with valet service, but when she attempted to retrieve it the next morning, the car was missing. Valet records indicated that the retrieval code had been used at 12:06 a.m., more than nine hours before the guest reported sending it. The key was listed as checked in but was missing from the valet lockbox, according to police.
The Savannah Police Department shared surveillance photos of the suspect on Facebook, describing him as a Black male between 20 and 30 years old. This incident is not the first case of someone impersonating a professional athlete for fraudulent purposes. Daejon Labrayae Love, 35, and Taylor Jamie Chan, 18, were arrested last month for allegedly creating fictitious investments to defraud women across several states, with Love posing as a wealthy 49ers player.