SEATAC, Wash. — A driver returned to the Sea-Tac Airport parking garage near Seattle, Washington Wednesday night and found something shocking, all four of his wheels and tires had been stolen right off his car. While Jason Cole is home in Auburn, Washington now, his car is still in Sea-Tac, because there’s no way to drive it. While he was away on a business trip, someone stole his wheels and left his car up on jacks.
“You’re thinking there are a lot of cars around and a lot of people, it’s pretty secure in there,” Cole said. “You do pay a lot of money to park your car there.”
The Port of Seattle Police patrol the airport garage, and there are some surveillance cameras. But airport officials tell us crime does still happen.
"We’ve had 2.4 million cars last year go through our garage," airport spokesman Perry Cooper said. "This year, we've only had 35 car prowls. So that's a fraction of 1 percent. Unfortunately if it's your car, you don't care what that small percentage is."
Cole said he was frustrated he wasn’t contacted right when the theft was discovered.
"Not a lot of phone numbers are connected with license plate numbers," Cooper explain. "So for most of these situations, we have to wait for that person to come back."
"They could have handled it differently, maybe paid for my parking or offered something like that," Cole, who paid more than $100 to leave his car in the garage for three days, said.
There are signs in the garage that warn drivers to lock their doors, but some travelers said this kind of crime is different.
"I know I’m responsible for stuff stolen out of my car," Michael Santiago said. "But something this atrocious, you have to imagine they have to have some responsibility."
Cole said he probably won’t take the chance in the garage again.
"For everybody out there that parks there, hopefully the security will get better and they'll rectify it. But when you do park there, just know that there's a risk," he said.
Port of Seattle Police think this theft happened sometime Sunday.
