Mar 30, 2007 4:32 pm US/Pacific
Calls For Prosecution In SF 'Parking Hustle' Case
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5) ―
-
-
Men who are not parking attendants were captured on video asking for and accepting money from patrons at a San Francisco self-park facility.
CBS
Just weeks after a CBS 5 investigation revealed a parking hustle in San Francisco a city supervisor and the district attorney's office are taking action. "He impersonated a parking lot attendant and committed theft by false pretenses," said assistant D.A. Max Peltz. The allegations involve a man who was arrested at a lot near Fisherman's Wharf last week.
The lot is unattended, but the police report shows the man told a driver pulling in, "park here and that'll be $10.00" and the arresting officer reported it wasn't the man's first time doing it - he's been arrested "at least 5 times." Peltz said that when he was arrested on one of his prior alleged acts he told the police officer 'they are never going to charge me they are going to release me and I will see you back on the waterfront on Monday.'
But all that was before CBS 5 Investigates showed that there are widespread problems at parking lots all over the city - like at a lot at Polk and Hayes, where our hidden cameras caught men posing as parking lot attendants, and taking people's money.
We documented the same thing one recent Friday night, where five men took over the lot and collected cash from nearly every car entering - as the lot filled up with people driving in to see downtown events. "This looks like a roving group of people who have latched onto a great idea to scam people, which is really a shame, and hopefully we'll catch them," said Laurel Pallock, who heads up the district attorney's consumer fraud unit.
"This is the kind of con that doesn't make the city feel any better and it's very difficult for consumers," said Pallock.
So why is it still happening, with people being scammed night after night just a block from City Hall? We were told that it's because the police consider it a low priority misdemeanor. Supervisor Jake McGoldrick told us he thinks it's totally not acceptable. "The charges right now are at the misdemeanor level. I certainly … having learned about this only recently thanks to your investigative reporting … will get together with the D.A. to find out how we can lower the kibosh on these folks.
McGoldrick said residents and tourists shouldn't be subject to widespread rip-offs. "In terms of the illegality of what is going on here, in terms of the scams against consumers, that's really serious stuff in terms of criminal activity. That's stealing, that's thievery."
And what responsibility do parking lot owners bear? Central Parking told us they don't plan to add attendants at the Polk and Hayes lot because of "economic considerations." McGoldrick isn't buying that. "Central Parking and others are multi-, multi-, multi-million dollar companies. They know of a crime committed on their property, they have got to intervene and if they want not to be so cheapskate about it."
So when the company said: well, there might be economic considerations as to why we are not putting attendants out? "That's total poppycock," said McGoldrick. He plans to meet with D.A. Kamala Harris and police chief Heather Fong and ask them to make this a priority. And if he has to, he says he'll get a policy statement from the board of supervisors to really put the pressure on to clean this up.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Click to enlarge
CBS 5 Reporter Kicked Out Of SF City Hall 1 hr 48 mins ago 
Big-Rig Plunges Off Bay Bridge S-Curve 1 hr 25 mins ago 
49ers Must Regroup In Hurry To Face Bears Thursday 21 mins ago 
Stumble It!
Comments