Don't forget where you parked

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ST. PETERSBURG - Larry DiSalvo called Saturday the worst shopping day of his life.

Not even close.

There he stood in the Tyrone Square Mall parking lot, surrounded by three police cruisers and mall security. Police had searched and interrogated him. All the while, DiSalvo said, shoppers gawked, perhaps wondering whom he had killed.

The 57-year-old said he was guilty of one thing: forgetfulness. He lost his 1991 Grand Marquis in a sea of 6,000 parked cars.

But mall security thought he was wandering the parking lot looking for cars to break into.

The result: He's banned from the mall for life.

"They gave me the shopping equivalent of a life term without any parole," the retired real estate agent said. "I'm a mall person. I grew up in malls. I've never in my 57 years on this planet had a problem in a mall.

"Unfortunately," he said, "today my unlucky number came up."

DiSalvo has no apparent criminal record. He said he is an honest Treasure Island resident who has shopped at Tyrone for 14 years without incident. He denied even thinking of breaking into a car.

Tyrone security refused to comment, and mall management did not return calls.

St. Petersburg police said they witnessed no crime, and just issued a trespass warning to DiSalvo at the request of the mall. "It's a decision made by the property owners," said police Sgt. Mark Degan, a shift supervisor. "The officers felt they didn't see any criminal intent," otherwise DiSalvo could have faced arrest.

The day started so encouragingly.

DiSalvo arrived at the mall at 8 a.m. hoping to beat the crowds. He needed to return a piece of jewelry at JCPenney. He found a parking space right away, and hardly gave it a thought as he walked into the mall.

After returning the jewelry he has a receipt to prove it, he wandered a few stores and ate lunch.

DiSalvo dropped a dollar into the Salvation Army pot as he walked out, idly thinking it would bring him good luck.

That's when he looked up and thought, "Oh, my [censored]. I'm lost."

DiSalvo said he wandered one way, then another, peering over cars looking for his white Marquis. After 5 or 10 minutes, mall security drove up. He said he figured they would offer help finding the car.

Instead, DiSalvo said, they told him he had been seen peering into and trying to enter cars. To his astonishment, he said, they told him to leave the property immediately.

Of course, he still hadn't found the car.

So DiSalvo walked across the street to a Kinkos, where he tried to call someone for a ride. That's when police arrived, called by the mall.

The whole thing might have taken an hour. He was repeatedly questioned. Police said they were told he had run away from security. DiSalvo denied it, saying he simply ran across a busy street to avoid heavy traffic.

Degan said mall security informed police they saw DiSalvo trying to break into cars. Someone at Macy's, police were told, saw the same thing.

All nonsense, DiSalvo said.

Police took him back to the mall lot, surrounding him like a common criminal, he said.

Finally, mall security took his picture, he said, and banned him forever, which, DiSalvo added, hurts Sears more than him.

That's where he does most of his shopping.

"If this could happen to me, [censored] forbid, it could happen to your grandmother," DiSalvo said. "It's just ridiculous. I'm as clean as the fresh-driven snow. That's verifiable."

Security did finally find DiSalvo's car. He drove away, never to return.

William R. Levesque can be reached at [email protected] or (813) 226-3436.

[Last modified December 22, 2007, 21:41:39]
 
Actually I lost my car the other day at K-Mart. Found it though in a few minutes. Why was he checking out other cars though. I think he has a problem. I think he probably was looking to break in cars.
 
Originally Posted By: JTK
No kidding. A 1991 Grand Marquis? I'd be looking for a new car too.

Joel


How could you NOT see that thing in the parking lot?
 
Maybe the guy leaves his driving glasses in the car, and can't see past 20 feet without them.

Have you ever gotten into a car, only to find all your stuff is gone? Sometimes your key will open more than one car on the lot.
 
Originally Posted By: oilyriser

Have you ever gotten into a car, only to find all your stuff is gone? Sometimes your key will open more than one car on the lot.


No kidding. I was on vacation with my parents (back in the 80's) and we got into our rental car and realized it wasn't ours. There were two identical Chevy Celebritys (remember those cars?) parked near each other and my dad assumed the one we were getting into was ours. The key worked on every lock.
 
Originally Posted By: Pablo
just think of the people who aren't smart enough to be cops.......

They are still no dumber than the Average American
 
Well, what you've got here is mall security feeling like bozos. They bring out the militia for what they think is some juicy exercise of their para-police (frustrated wannebe's at times) power and only to find out that you've got a confused shopper who lost his car. In spite of his car BEING THERE ..in spite of his receipt for legit business ..in spite of all the evidence that points to "yes, it's true" ..they need something to justify their going to all that trouble. No security tapes reviewed ...and since the cops too were put to a bunch of trouble for nothing ..they weren't concerned about convincing the mall security to just let it go. Tinhorn security gets their rhetorical pound of flesh to save face ...confused shopper gets in the paper.
 
I'm so lucky with my truck.

We went shopping at a mall in Nashville yesterday. 36" Amsoil Stickers that are high up on the cap work wonders for find your vehicle!!

My daughter asked me yesterday, if when I buy a car how will I find it. I told her Amsoil sells flags. I'll just post it up on a flag pole next to my car, then I can find it. She just rolled her eyes.

It's unfortunate that someone would get banned for life from a mall. I don't think it would bother me much though, I might go 2-3 times a year.
 
Originally Posted By: Dan4510
...Tyrone security refused to comment, and mall management did not return calls....


That pretty much sums it up.

I liked Gary Allan's reply.

Time to call in the lawyers.
 
Well, in all fairness to the mall security, they were doing their job. They just got a little overzealous before they knew what was going on.

I imagine if he just wrote a letter to the mall management, and assured that all he wanted was to use the mall again (and not need any further publicity since he didn't want any to begin with), that they would remove him from the 'banned' list.
 
Originally Posted By: Al
Originally Posted By: Pablo
just think of the people who aren't smart enough to be cops.......

They are still no dumber than the Average American


Sorta my point. Take my line as a whole.....
 
I remember 30 years ago Union 76 gave away orange styrofoam balls to mount on the tip of your antenna so you could find your car in a parking lot. Pretty soon you had a sea of cars with orange balls in any given parking lot.
LOL.gif
 
Yes, I am. I would imagine that if the guy was a true "critter" that the paper wouldn't have bothered with the story. Low life types are thrown out of malls all the time for various things. If he was indeed attempting to enter locked cars ..and it showed it on security cameras (they saw him some how) then that would have been more than enough to issue, at minimum, some summery offense citation. None was ...
21.gif


One would assume that, at 57 years old, any "career criminal" (of lower order) would have run into some trouble by now.
 
Originally Posted By: Pablo
If you are biased and think cops are of inferior intellect.........just think of the people who aren't smart enough to be cops.......

Those people become security guards, where they remain until they can prove their ability to count to 21 without being naked. Then they're allowed to become cops.
grin2.gif
 
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