Photo: Ferrari
Parking valets pretty much have only one job: park your car. For that to happen, all he needs to do is get your keys, park the car and give the keys back when asked. Preferably, the keys are to be handed back to the same person who left them in their care in the first place.
There isn't a real procedure that would allow a valet to better identify his customers, except for a ticket. The entire affair pretty much relies on the employee's ability to retain faces and make sure the car gets back in the hands of its rightful owner. But, with enough determination, one can make a valet give cars away, for free, in an instant.
Something like that went down last summer in St. Petersburg, Florida, at the Vinoy Renaissance St. Petersburg Resort & Golf Club. One day, a Ferrari 458 Italia was handed over by its 73-year old owner. At midnight, the same 458 Italia with a 28-year old male behind the wheel and a 24-year old woman on the right seat.
The valet blames the entire conundrum on the fact that his job got really difficult as midnight approached. He says a guy showed up, looking all impatient and demanding, and asking for the keys to the Ferrari.
Of course, the young man had no ticket to prove his identity with but tricked the valet into thinking the card was in the car. He got the keys to the vehicle, sat in it with a woman for a while, doing who knows what, then drove off. Without tipping the valet, of course.
If it hadn't been for a police officer who saw the Ferrari had no working taillights, the thief might have gotten away. Instead, he got pulled over, questioned and searched, after the cop saw some cocaine on top of the center console.
Now, the guy faces, according to TampaBay, charges of grand theft of more than $100,000, possession of cocaine and habitually driving with a suspended or revoked license. Police now try to tie him to a ting of luxury car thieves, blamed for the following missing cars: a Corvette Z06, an Impala, a Cadillac and three Audi A8.
He says he didn't steal the car, as it was given to him by the valet, and claims he knows nothing about the cocaine. The Ferrari's rightful owner filed a lawsuit this week against the resort for negligence and gross negligence.
Something like that went down last summer in St. Petersburg, Florida, at the Vinoy Renaissance St. Petersburg Resort & Golf Club. One day, a Ferrari 458 Italia was handed over by its 73-year old owner. At midnight, the same 458 Italia with a 28-year old male behind the wheel and a 24-year old woman on the right seat.
The valet blames the entire conundrum on the fact that his job got really difficult as midnight approached. He says a guy showed up, looking all impatient and demanding, and asking for the keys to the Ferrari.
Of course, the young man had no ticket to prove his identity with but tricked the valet into thinking the card was in the car. He got the keys to the vehicle, sat in it with a woman for a while, doing who knows what, then drove off. Without tipping the valet, of course.
If it hadn't been for a police officer who saw the Ferrari had no working taillights, the thief might have gotten away. Instead, he got pulled over, questioned and searched, after the cop saw some cocaine on top of the center console.
Now, the guy faces, according to TampaBay, charges of grand theft of more than $100,000, possession of cocaine and habitually driving with a suspended or revoked license. Police now try to tie him to a ting of luxury car thieves, blamed for the following missing cars: a Corvette Z06, an Impala, a Cadillac and three Audi A8.
He says he didn't steal the car, as it was given to him by the valet, and claims he knows nothing about the cocaine. The Ferrari's rightful owner filed a lawsuit this week against the resort for negligence and gross negligence.
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