Newport Beach Botox clinics frowning over service thefts
Two Newport Beach clinics have been scammed of wrinkle-erasing Botox treatments in recent weeks by a middle-aged woman now gone without a trace.
She may be setting new frown lines, though, if caught: The doctors’ services she stole are valued at more than $2,000, a grand theft felony that could send her to jail, said Newport Beach Police Department spokesman Sgt. Evan Sailor.
A walk-in patient who called herself Miriam Flemings, described as 45 to 50 with brown hair and brown eyes, got three injections of Juvederm and one of Botox at the office of Dr. Jon Glazer on Jan. 6, then slipped out of the clinic without paying.
On Feb. 23, a woman claiming to be a Miriam Gombar had an appointment at the Nulooks Med-Spa, ducking out after getting her Botox shots on the pretext of making a phone call.
It’s believed that the two Miriams are the same person.
Glazer’s office retained gauze and syringes containing blood traces that could help identify the woman through DNA matching if she is already in law enforcement records or is arrested later, Sailor said.
The police department has warned doctors in the affluent community to protect against repeat offenses by the Botox Bandit by requiring payment in advance.
In the meantime, they have no leads to follow, said Sgt. Steve Burdette: “She just ran off, expressionless.”
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