Adrian Meronk participated in the Honda Classic last week and achieved his PGA Tour-best finish. However, this achievement has been overshadowed in a strange story.
Meronk, tied for 14th, arrived at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens on February 24 to play in the second round. He discovered that items had been stolen from the locker rooms overnight. Two of the stolen items, an Apple iPad and TrackMan devices, were worth $15,500.
Matthew David Archer (40) was arrested quickly and charged with burglary of an unoccupied structure unarmed as well as grand theft. Archer was seen on surveillance footage taken from the locker room of the players.
According to a Palm Beach Gardens Police Report, Meronk notified authorities about the robbery and PGA National Security reviewed surveillance footage from the locker rooms. At 8:30 p.m. on February 23, a white male with facial hair entered the room wearing a black tank and long black pants. He is seen walking out of the locker room in a gray golf shirt, carrying two bags, fourteen minutes later.
According to the report, the security personnel showed the footage of the event to Palm Beach Gardens Police officers. They identified Archer as one officer knew. Archer was called by the officer who asked about the missing items. He explained that Archer had video surveillance footage showing him entering and leaving the locker room the night before the incident. Archer was asked to return the items. Archer was arrested at PGA National 45 minutes later with the stolen items.
Meronk, a Polish native who was ranked 53rd worldwide, was thankful that his items had been recovered.
Meronk stated that he was able to track the TrackMan on his phone and the last known location was 600 yards from the buildings. Meronk shared this information with Golf Digest. “I was shocked to be honest. I didn’t even get mad because I didn’t even believe it.”
Archer, who was being held in the Palm Beach County Main Detention Center with a $10,000 bail-bond, was still there on Wednesday
