When Michael F. Lebron of Laureldale contacted police in Ocean City, Md., to report that his duffle bag had been stolen a day earlier from the beach, officers were immediately skeptical.
Lebron, 33, told officers the designer bag was worth $500 and contained high‑end clothing, footwear and jewelry. According to the police report, he listed earrings valued at $4,100, a bracelet worth $6,400, Louis Vuitton shoes worth $1,300, Air Jordan sneakers worth $300, and a pair of $5 sandals from Five Below.
Police found it unusual that Lebron claimed to have spent roughly eight hours on the beach yet could not identify where the theft occurred — not even the name of a nearby street. Investigators also found no evidence that he had driven from Reading to Ocean City on June 18, as he claimed.
That same day, Lebron filed a $12,685 insurance claim with Motorist Commercial Mutual Insurance.
During parallel investigations by Ocean City police and the insurance company, investigators noted multiple inconsistencies between the information Lebron provided in his police report and in his insurance claim. The insurer ultimately denied the claim, citing fraudulent information, and referred the matter to the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office.
On Feb. 18, the attorney general’s office charged Lebron with insurance fraud and theft by deception. He waived a preliminary hearing March 9 before District Judge Colleen Dugan Schearer in Muhlenberg Township and remains free awaiting a disposition hearing scheduled in May in Berks County Court.
According to the probable cause affidavit:
Lebron initially told police that he was at the beach with his daughter and had placed the valuables in the duffle bag under a towel on the sand. He said he was in the water, then went for a walk, leaving the bag unattended, when the bag was taken.
A police officer contacted him the next day for additional details. When asked how he traveled to Ocean City, Lebron said he drove his own car from Reading with his daughter. However, police found no license‑plate‑reader hits for his vehicle anywhere between Reading and Ocean City on June 18.
As part of its investigation, the insurance company asked Lebron why he waited until June 19 to report the theft. He said he did not call police immediately because he needed to get home for work.
Investigators also asked him to submit photos of the shoes he claimed were stolen. After reviewing the cellphone metadata, they determined the photos were taken June 19, meaning the items would have been in his possession the day after he said they were stolen. Lebron claimed the timestamp was incorrect because he had taken a photo of a photo on his daughter’s iPhone.
Due to concerns about possible misrepresentations, the insurer requested Lebron sit for an examination under oath. On July 1, while waiting for the interview to be scheduled, Lebron called the company and said he wished to withdraw the claim.
The next day, Ocean City police traveled to Pennsylvania to speak to him. They could not locate Lebron at the address he had provided but reached him by phone. Lebron told officers that he wanted to close the case because he had recovered his property, describing the alleged theft as a prank by a friend.
Investigators noted this was the first time Lebron mentioned being with friends in Ocean City. During the conversation, he said he had traveled there with friends in one of their vehicles but struggled to describe the vehicle.