Perplexing Stolen Car Incident at Tribeca’s Roxy Hotel

From Tribeca’s Police Beat log, a couple visiting from Massachusetts handed over the keys to their 2014 Infiniti to a man in the lobby of the Tribeca Roxy Hotel, thinking he was a parking valet, and noted that he was dressed in jogging gear with a red baseball hat and white sneakers. The “valet” took the keys and was seen on surveillance cameras driving off in their car. Here’s the police log –

A few local media outlets have written about the story and one of them noted that the husband reported the vehicle stolen 5 hours after the incident but as far as it looks, police are still investigating.

I have so many questions about this story. I don’t think that the couple had just arrived to the hotel, otherwise wouldn’t there have been the introductory “Welcome to the Roxy, are you checking in with us?” inquiry before turning over the keys?

My guess is that maybe they’d stayed the night before and just went out for an early morning function or breakfast and then returned back to the hotel.

But if so, then why wasn’t there anyone outside to take the car and they had to come into the lobby?

Anyhow, leaving their car and walking into the lobby they reportedly saw a guy near the valet stand in jogging clothes so they mistook him for valet. Sometimes valet guys do dress down since they have to do a lot of running around. Fair enough.

When they handed the keys over though, didn’t the guy’s face register surprise, and wasn’t there a quick conversation of some sort ie. “All done with your car for the day, sir?”

And then there’s the perplexing bit about the “valet” guy. At first I thought he was just a rather shocked guest on his way for a run who decided to humor (albeit in poor taste) the couple and valet the car for them. But since reports indicate the police are still investigating, that doesn’t seem like the case. The way the police log is written makes it seem as though the “valet guy” didn’t approach the couple but rather the husband simply handed a guy his keys.

Was it a hotel guest with a background in crime that simply couldn’t believe his good luck? Probably not since he’d have to return to the hotel eventually anyhow, and the chances seem slim that the couple would hand the keys to just the right tempted guy.

I think it unlikely that a guy would stand around in the lobby of a hotel in the early morning hours hoping that someone mistakes him for a valet. Maybe I’m naive though, and I’ve written about my own parking incident in New York. Where were the real valet guys during this incident? Wouldn’t they have spotted the imposter quickly if he was hanging around near their valet stand?

I really hope that police get this sorted and that the couple gets their car back.

What do you think happened?