Thieves park and pilfer at Park 'N Ride lot

08:51 AM CDT on Thursday, April 21, 2005

By Jeff McShan / 11 News

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More than a dozen angry commuters could be found among the shattered glass and broken car locks at a Park 'N Ride lot at the Addicks location on Old Katy Road in the far west side of Houston.

As each bus pulled into the lot, more and more passengers, like Noelle Stewart, immediately reached for their cell phones.

KHOU-TV

A satellite radio was taken from this car at the Park 'N Ride lot at Addicks on Old Katy Road.

"I said whoever did this job over here, they was having party with the cars for a long time. There wasn't no police, no security, no nothing," says one victim.

All of the victims were surprised by the lack of security. There are cameras and security tower, but no one was inside.

When asked if he thought there was security, victim Frank Flores says, "I thought so. When I first started working downtown, I saw a security guard back up there. Recently, I didn't see anybody, but I thought they came in later or they were here earlier, but I guess that's not the case."

Metro stopped putting guards in all the booths as of January 1.

The suspect or suspects took everything from digital cameras to CDs to Walkmans to a lot of satellite radios.

"They rummaged through my first aid kit and a few other belongings, but it looks like all they took was my radio and a few CDs," says Dale Edwards.

The victims were from all walks of life, including a Houston police officer. "You know, you work very hard, you try to keep your property nice and then some thugs that want to break into your vehicle when you're hard at work," says D. Giannavola.

Metro officers arrived and began taking reports. Some of them even took the time to take fingerprints.

For most Park 'N Ride customers, it was too little, too late. They want someone back in the security booth soon.

11 News reported on the problems at the lots back in November, and it seems they have only gotten worse since then. There is no one in the security booth during the day and it appears that the cameras in the lot are pointed toward the traffic to let Metro know how much traffic flow is going through the area.