Whenever I see a car idling on the side of the road with no driver in it, I instinctively yell "free car" and imagine jumping in and driving off. I've never actually acted on it, but the thought has occurred to me.
On Sunday, a pair of thieves spotted the same opportunity in Times Square and acted on it. They got a Maserati Gran Turismo and really embarrassed the nearby owner.
The man, Chadwick Lange, a real estate broker that just moved to Manhattan, pulled up to 47th Street and Broadway just after 4:30 Sunday morning. He spotted a friend and got out to chat.
He left the $150,000 Maserati idling with the keys in it. That's not a good decision.
Two people came up to the car and asked to take pictures. Lange was cool with that, but then the photo-taking schuysters decided driving was more appealing than photos and took off with the car. One man took off driving while the other ran to the corner and hopped in. The car disappeared around the corner and still hasn't been found.
Lange hasn't commented yet, because of the ongoing investigation, although we suspect it may be because of crippling embarrassment.
Photo Credit: XMan via flickr