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Modern-day Ferris Bueller parking lot owner caught taking cars on carefree joyrides

Modern-day Ferris Bueller parking lot owner caught taking cars on carefree joyrides
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Going on vacation? Need to park your car at lot during your trip? If you think your ride is safe and sound while you’re off on a well deserved vacation, then you’ll be surprised to learn the truth.

Premiere Parking Spot in Cocoa, Florida is one of many parking lots that watch over patron’s car while they hop a cruise liner or are out of town on vacation. Generally, you pay, you park, and the company watches over your wheels while you’re away. What sets Premier Parking Spot apart from others is that instead of making sure your car goes untouched, the owner has been getting behind the wheel for some high-speed shenanigans.

Local station WFTV Eyewitness News in Orlando decided to set up a sting operation after being tipped off by a viewer about the unscrupulous acts of owner Jay Nieves. They rented a brand-new  2012 Chevy Corvette Convertible, outfitted with a GPS tracking device, and headed out to the lot posing as customers about to depart on vacation. A mere six hours later, “Joyriding Jay” was already burning rubber on the road.

And as if taking the car in the first place wasn’t bad enough, the news crew caught the owner burning down the road, doing burnouts, running errands at a local Ace hardware store, and even making a pit stop at the local Applebee’s.

When the crew finally confronted him, Nieves — who  had clocked in over 60 miles in the $60,000 Vette during his carefree highway high jinks — denied the whole thing, even after being shown evidence to the contrary. 

WFTV is currently looking into what criminal charges, if any, they can bring upon Nieves.

Amir Iliaifar
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Associate Automotive Section Editor for Digital Trends, Amir Iliaifar covers the ever increasing cross-section between tech…
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