SAN DIEGO -- He’s a San Diego personal trainer paid to make people sweat. But, Chris Butler’s members complain he’s been thinning out their checking accounts more than anything else.

Butler is the owner of Sweat Boot Camp in Hillcrest. The I-Team began investigating him after receiving complaints from concerned members who said hundreds of dollars were racked up against their credit or debit card accounts.

Apparently the account numbers were obtained when the gym’s customers signed up. Records obtained by the 10News I-Team confirm Butler is running up his clients debit and credit cards without their permission.

The amounts run from $150.00 and up.

“He took money that didn’t belong to him. It was shady. That’s my money. I worked hard for it,” said Margaret Wrtaza. She signed up for Butler’s classes excited about getting in shape. She said Butler withdrew $150 on three different occasions. “It feels like a violation. He completely violated me,” she said.

Wrtaza and other members said they called and emailed Butler, but never got any return calls from him. Members said they went by the gym only to find it locked.

“I called and visited during my lunch break,” says Emile Cerley. “I saw a sign that said closed due to illness.”

Members checked online only to find all future classes were cancelled.

MindBody is the company that handles the gym’s billings. The owner tells the I-Team it received a number of complaints from victims, and also noticed dozens of apparent fraudulent charges. The red flags were enough for the company to shut down service preventing anymore transactions. By then, a total of about $30,000 had been taken from people’s accounts.

Both his unhappy clients and the 10News I-Team attempt to talk with Butler about what was going on. But it seems like he disappeared into thin air. The gym was locked up tight, though while we were on surveillance we did see a female working in the building in the late evening. She wouldn’t talk, though.

It was just by chance that reporter Vara was jogging in Balboa Park along 6th Street when she saw Butler’s 2006 Mercedes Benz. It’s a nice looking car, hard to miss.

She also spotted Butler on a volleyball court. But with no cell phone on her and no pay phone in sight, she was stumped on how to get a hold of her I-Team members. But nice gentlemen, a Bankers Hill local, lent Juliette his cell phone.

Within minutes she made a frantic call to 10News and I-Team members rolled out quickly -- Managing Editor JW August and photojournalist Christian Cazares. When they arrived, they joined reporter Vara and went to volleyball court. The questioning was pretty straight forward -- how was he going to pay back his clients? Why did he do this in the first place? Simple questions but Butler wouldn’t respond. Instead, he unleashed a torrent of expletives. He used the "F word" repeatedly, cursing at every one of the I-Team members. No matter how hard Juliette tried, Butler remained agitated.

Further research by the I-Team shows the trainer lived in Georgia in the 1990s, arrested once for what appears to be passing a bad check.

But the case was dropped.

Records show he declared bankruptcy too.

We have learned the San Diego City Attorney's Office is investigating Butler. The I-Team plans to continue to track him and asks if you were a client or supplier, please contact juliette_vara@10news.com.