A Man at Disney World Steals Star Wars R2-D2 Droid from Resort

By: Victoria Wong

A man falsely claims that he got a security job at Walt Disney World in Florida. So he decided to try and impress his future bosses by taking an R2-D2 “Star Wars” droid as well as an unidentified game machine from the Swan Reserve.

The man, David Proudfoot, was wearing a gray T-shirt, beige pants and Disney name tag worn by employees of Swan Reserve in Disney. It was said that he was trying to test and show how much the resort needed better security Mr. Proudfoot’s attempt at an excuse about Disney’s security backfired: He was charged with grand theft and disturbance by false information, according to an arrest report on May 31, 2022.

Mr. Proudfoot, 44, admitted to investigators that he moved the droid and the game machine, in an attempt to take it and sell it. The droid was valued up to $10,000, Deputy Christopher Wrzesien of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office wrote in the report.

Deputy Wrzesien said that Mr. Proudfoot had “temporarily moved” R2-D2 from the third floor of the hotel to an unidentified location. As for the game machine, Mr. Proudfoot told deputies that his objective was not to move it off the property of Disney World but to move it to a different area.

When the authorities first arrived at the Swan Reserve on May 31, 2022 they found Mr. Proudfoot pretending to be a company worker trying to not be caught, Deputy Wrzesien wrote. He initially gave investigators a false name of David E. Rodgers, but no one with that name was employed there. Mr. Proudfoot also said his manager’s name was also a Disney employee who worked in California, not Florida.

Mr. Proudfoot has been connected to other thefts that dealt with Disney-owned properties leading up to the current R2-D2 case causing him to be easily sent to jail.

In January of 2022, at the Four Seasons Resort, records show he contributed to the theft of about $735 worth of bathroom products from the men’s locker room. The next month in February, he was arrested after purchasing a gold necklace worth more than $700 under the name of a different guest.

On May 16, 2022, Mr. Proudfoot was charged in connection with the theft of bathroom light fixtures and a towel cabinet from the gym at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort. He also admitted to breaking into at least three arcade machines on Walt Disney World property.