DETROIT – A family who flew back from a holiday trip found their brand-new SUV left on blocks at the Detroit Metro Airport inside the big blue deck at the Evans terminal.
Joe Hebeka shot a video to show exactly how he found his new Jeep Wagoneer inside DTW’s big blue deck parking structure when he got off a flight last Monday (Nov. 28).
“Got out, opened up the doors, walked around the corner, and noticed the vehicle just sitting in the middle of the garage on blocks with bolts and nuts all over the floor and cars all around,” said Hebeka. “But it was just sitting there.”
He had 22-inch wheels, which cost thousands of dollars stolen. There’s possible damage to the vehicle as well after sitting on blocks for so long.
The question remains, how long did the theft take? Why didn’t the airport police or security see it?
DTW police told Local 4 Tuesday (Dec. 6) there are cameras and there is security in its parking structures. But when Hebeka checked back with airport police, he said they had no leads.
“They really have zero leads at this point, Hebeka said. It was kind of disappointing. So far, they have gotten back with me, and they’ve said that they’re gone through hours and hours of footage of people coming and going out of the garage, but they really have no leads. As far as cameras inside the garage, it seems to be quite a lack of cameras because they have no footage whatsoever.
In June, a man was arrested for a horrific attempted sexual assault of a woman In the big blue deck garage.
“What else can go wrong in that garage undetected,” Hebeka said. “Are children being taken from there? Is there other transactions going on? It seems to be a freefall in there. It’s not monitored that’s for sure.”
“Safety and security remains our top priority at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport. Due to the recent vehicle and tire thefts in our parking decks, we’ve taken several steps to address the problem. Earlier this year, we increased patrols of our parking decks. In response to the recent thefts, our Airport Authority Police Department and Security teams have added patrols. Also, we’re exploring increasing camera coverage and adding additional technology at the Big Blue Deck and the McNamara Terminal Parking Deck. Furthermore, our police department is working in cooperation with several law enforcement agencies to address stolen vehicles not only at DTW but across Southeast Michigan.”
Erica Donerson, C.M. Vice President, Communications & External Affairs