This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A 77-year-old woman who left her car with a parking attendant at LDS Hospital this week returned from a doctor's appointment less than an hour later to find that her car had been stolen.
Jeanette Casazza of West Valley City arrived at the Salt Lake City hospital on Tuesday with her granddaughter and gave her keys to a parking attendant. After the appointment, she gave her ticket to the attendant. After waiting a few minutes, Casazza's granddaughter checked and learned that the car was gone, she said.
Casazza said Wednesday that she was baffled that her car could slip away so easily in broad daylight at a parking lot staffed with security guards.
"It just makes me sick," she said.
Casazza's daughter, Deb Casazza, said her mother waited in the parking lot for an hour, hoping for an update from security after reporting the theft, only to eventually hear from them that calling the police was her responsibility.
"I don't know what I'm more mad about: how they treated her or the car being stolen," Deb Casazza said.
According to Jeanette and Deb Casazza, the alleged theft was caught on surveillance cameras. Jeanette Casazza said a security staff member told her he could see footage of someone in a black jeep get out and drive away in her car. Jeanette Casazza said she wasn't allowed to see the footage. Jeanette Casazza said she doesn't know anyone in a black jeep. She also wasn't sure whether the parking attendant had locked the car.
Salt Lake City Police Detective Dennis McGowan confirmed that police are investigating the stolen car claim. Police are working on obtaining any surveillance footage from the parking lot, he said.
"If there is video, then we're going to get that video and take a look at it," McGowan said.
Deb Casazza said that her mother's car means a lot to her. It contains decorations that Jeanette Casazza planned to place on her son's grave, Deb Casazza said.
"It's my mom's only independence," she said.
Deb Casazza described the car as a dark green 1995 Ford Escort with a spoiler on the back.
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