San Angelo's Crunch Fitness Grapples with Tragedy Over Women’s Locker Room Access

SAN ANGELO, TX — San Angelo Police Department officers were dispatched to Crunch Fitness at 4349 Sherwood Way at least twice in early 2026 following complaints about a biological male using the women’s locker room, shower, and sauna, according to police reports.

The first incident occurred on January 22, 2026, at 9:26 a.m. A 911 caller reported a man in the women’s bathroom and shower area. The caller stated they had previously reported the same individual to gym staff for “dressing inappropriately.” According to call notes obtained by San Angelo LIVE!, the responding officer documented that Crunch Fitness staff had been allowing a male who identifies as female to shower and change in the women’s restroom. Complainants were directed to contact the local Justice of the Peace rather than pursuing criminal charges on site.

Multiple women who were members at the time told San Angelo LIVE! that the individual identified in some accounts as Lindsey Amanda “Christopher” Cole was frequently present in the women’s locker room, shower, and sauna. Former gym member Crissa Creech-Favre described seeing the person naked in the restroom and sauna with male genitalia visible, and moving between men’s and women’s facilities. Creech-Favre said she posted about the situation on Facebook but later deleted it due to controversy and harassment.

“I have a gay brother, several gay friends, and one is a transgender friend,” Creech-Favre told San Angelo LIVE!. “But I also have three granddaughters and three goddaughters. It’s not about this guy’s sexuality, it’s about disrespect.”

Another former member, who asked to remain anonymous, said gym staff did not address the complaints and that the manager seemed to encourage it. She canceled her membership and now works out at the nearby Tru-Fit location.

A second police response took place in March 2026 after someone was reportedly videotaping the individual inside the women’s locker room. Texas law prohibits such recording under Penal Code § 21.15 (Invasive Visual Recording), a state jail felony punishable by 180 days to two years in jail and/or a fine up to $10,000. The statute applies when a person, without consent and with intent to invade privacy, photographs or records another in a place with a reasonable expectation of privacy — including bathrooms, locker rooms, and changing areas.

According to San Angelo Police Chief Travis Griffith, when officers sought guidance from the District Attorney’s Office on potential charges against the person who made the video, prosecutors indicated the case would likely be dismissed. By that time, the individual involved in the locker room complaints had died by suicide and would no longer be available to testify.

Lindsey Amanda “Christopher” Cole, 40, passed away on April 15, 2026, in San Angelo. Public obituary listings from Robert Massie Funeral Home refer to the deceased as Lindsey Amanda Cole or Lindsey “Christopher” Amanda Cole. No cause of death is stated in the available notices, and no official reports have publicly linked Cole’s death to the gym incidents.

Social media discussions on local platforms referenced ongoing complaints at the gym throughout January and February 2026, with some members reporting they canceled their memberships. One former member estimated at least 70 memberships were lost, though this figure has not been independently verified.

Crunch Fitness San Angelo is a franchise location owned and operated by Undefeated Tribe LLC (part of the Crunch Austin Group). Managing Partner Marcos Cisneros, who oversees daily operations at the San Angelo club, declined to comment when approached by San Angelo LIVE! and referred questions to the franchise group’s Austin office via a generic marketing email.

In 2018, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing sued a Crunch Fitness franchise location in El Cajon, California, on behalf of Christynne Wood, a transgender woman. The lawsuit alleged that the gym repeatedly denied Wood access to the women’s locker room and restroom despite her legal name and gender change, in violation of California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination by business establishments based on gender identity and gender expression.

The case settled in December 2021. As part of the agreement, Wood received a payment, and the El Cajon location agreed to provide anti-discrimination training to employees, including training on the identification and prevention of harassment based on gender expression. The settlement applied specifically to that franchise location and did not involve corporate-wide policy changes for all Crunch gyms.

Texas Senate Bill 8 (the 2025 Women’s Privacy Act, became law effective December 4, 2025) requires multi-occupancy restrooms, showers, and changing facilities in public schools, universities, government buildings, prisons, and certain shelters to be designated and used according to biological sex (as listed on a person’s original birth certificate). The law does not apply to private businesses such as gyms. Private facilities like Crunch Fitness set their own policies on locker room access.