Customers Uneasy After Thieves Steal Keys, Cars From Bronx Parking Garage
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- When you drop your car off at a parking garage, you trust it will be there when you return.
But as CBS2's Steve Langford reported, the parking attendants at one Bronx garage were no match for a car theft ring. The thieves were apparently able to walk right in, grab some keys, and drive off.
The sign outside the Surf Logistics Parking Garage, at 751 Concourse Village West, reads, "Come in and try us." But surveillance video showed one suspect taking that welcome way too far.
While one man kept the parking attendant distracted outside, another went behind the counter and grabs the keys for several vehicles and then hands one set to another accomplice.
In this instance, a total of four suspects made off with a 2013 Range Roger and a 2012 Honda Civic. The parking attendant was unable to stop them.
"They pay you to watch their property. So watch their property," said customer Vernon Jones.
The theft happened around 6 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 17 at the garage, where the monthly parking rate is $210.
The attendants and management at the garage were not talking Monday, but parking patrons were.
"I know I'm not parking in there no more," one patron said.
"For us it's safe, because our car is always inside. We never had any problem," added customer Marjorie Macenat.
"I guess they got to be a little more careful with their security, I would guess" said customer Gary Axisa.
The surveillance video of the theft shows only two of the four suspects. Police said two suspects jumped in vehicles and drove off, and two others sped off in the same sport-utility vehicle they drove up in.
"I just came to go to court, and then I'm leaving court now," said customer Jose Manuel. "Hopefully, my car's here."
In the video, the faces of the two suspects who appear were as clear as the sets of keys that remained within reach of anyone entering the garage office
"You never know," said customer Elijah Milton. "Sometimes I've been thinking, you know, I park my car there, somebody drives off with it and just put it back -- it's that easy."
The car thieves remained at large early Monday evening.
