TRIBECA — A TriBeCa parking lot handed over an $82,000 Audi to a 20-year-old man who walked in and claimed he lost his parking ticket, according to police and the car's outraged owner.
Parking attendants at Alliance Parking at 335 Canal St. somehow fell for con man Dae Do's sob story that he’d lost his claim ticket for the black 2014 Audi that was parked in the outdoor lot, but desperately needed to get his car before the lot closed at midnight, police said.
So, minutes before closing time on Aug. 1, the attendants handed over the keys to the car, and Do drove off, police said.
The next morning, the couple who own the Audi went to the lot to pick up their car — only to find it missing.
“We are beyond angry, just livid,” said Caroline Bone, who recently bought the car with her husband.
The couple, who work nearby in SoHo, had dropped the car off at the lot two days earlier.
“We use that car lot all the time — we can’t believe they’d just give him the car," Bone said.
A day after the theft, Do, of Leonia, New Jersey, was caught by New Jersey State Troopers while speeding on the NJ Turnpike near Cranberry, N.J. at 1:35 a.m. Aug. 2, authorities said. Do had put more than a thousand miles on the car, smashed the fender and fouled up the interior during his daylong joyride, his victim said.
“He made the interior disgusting,” Bone said. “He not only ruined the front fender, he also put 1,100 miles on the car in about 24 hours.”
Do was arrested and arraigned on charges of receiving stolen property and hindering apprehension and was ordered held on $25,000 bail at the Middlesex County prison, according to New Jersey authorities. Information about his lawyer was not immediately available.
Bone said she and her husband recovered the car after it was impounded in Cranberry, and have already had to spend more than $2,000 to pay the lot to get the car back, rent a new car and to start the cleaning and inspecting process for the Audi. They'll need to spend even more to replace the fender and repair any other damages, she said.
“It’s really outrageous what happened," Bone said, adding that she plans to sue the parking lot.
"We’re at least thankful that no one on the road was hurt by him.”
Alliance Parking did not return calls for comment.
