Parking lot crime upends patient’s life
Cameras, attendant didn’t prevent car-part theft
Marvin Dixon left Aurora St. Luke’s hospital in May after five days, still not feeling great but thankful to have survived a blood clot in his lung — and grateful he didn’t have COVID-19.
When he got to the hospital’s gated parking lot and started up his Honda Odyssey, he knew something was wrong. The 2002 minivan didn’t sound right. It sounded loud, like a hot rod. He got out and looked underneath and could see somebody had sawed off the exhaust pipe and
stolen the catalytic converter.
He immediately notified authorities at St. Luke’s and called Milwaukee police. The police came and took pictures, interviewed Dixon and a St. Luke’s security officer, who said he would review surveillance video from hospital cameras and get back to the police, according to the police report.
Then the officers left.
And that’s the last time Dixon has heard from police, despite his many attempts to reach them. And instead of receiving the help he expected from Aurora, he said, he’s gotten a 10-month runaround.
“(Aurora) totally ignored me,” said the 47-year-old Dixon. “I was pleading and begging with them to work something out and help me and get this fixed … and they did nothing.”
Without comprehensive insurance on the minivan, Dixon has not been able to pay the estimated $4,000 to get the needed repairs.
“To them, it was just a pipe off an old car,” he said. “To me, it’s my way of life. It’s all I have to get around in.”
Representatives from Aurora would not answer questions from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel/USA TODAY Network about Dixon’s case or disclose data on other incidents of theft or any crimes on the hospital group’s properties.
“We cooperate with Milwaukee Police during their investigations of any criminal activity on our premises, and claims that arise as a result of criminal damage are escalated to our insurer for consideration,” spokeswoman Cheri Mantz wrote in an email.
Hospital parking safety has been the focus of an on-going Journal Sentinel investigation that first published in August and exposed how hospitals nationwide skimp on security and leave workers and visitors vulnerable to robberies, assaults and even homicides.
Hospitals often fail to staff and patrol garages and lots, have inadequate lighting and leave cameras unmonitored, the investigation found.
The Milwaukee Common Council passed an ordinance in January in the wake of the investigation aimed at improving parking security in the city, but the ordinance does not apply to hospitals and other private parking areas that don’t charge a fee to customers for parking.
Safety spot-checks
The Journal Sentinel hired a consultant to spot-check safety and security measures at five Milwaukee-area hospitals in May 2019. He found serious shortcomings at each, including one with lighting levels 30 times below industry standards.
The news organization hired the consultant to return in March to see if improvements had been made. He found lighting levels were significantly brighter at each of the parking structures.
Still, problems continue. Sources from Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital told the Journal Sentinel there were more than a dozen cases of catalytic converters stolen and other thefts and vandalism in parking areas at that medical campus in February alone.
Representatives from Ascension would not confirm or disclose how many incidents of thefts, vandalism and other crimes have occurred on their properties and told the Journal Sentinel in an email:
“Our campuses have a combination of 24/7 cameras and garage patrol services, emergency call systems, security escort services and enhanced LED lighting . ... Security personnel are equipped with non-lethal tools to maintain a safe environment. We work closely with local law enforcement departments to respond to security needs across our sites of care.”
Catalytic converter thefts rising
Milwaukee Police Department spokesman Sgt. Efrain Cornejo said the department has seen an increase in catalytic converter thefts citywide in recent months, though he couldn’t provide figures. Catalytic converters turn toxic fumes from combustion engines into less harmful gases. Thieves target them because they contain high-value metals such as platinum. And they can be removed in less than three minutes with everyday tools.
In May, when Dixon’s minivan was vandalized at St. Luke’s, the vehicle was parked fewer than 30 yards from a booth where an attendant is stationed at the gates.
“It never should have happened there,” Dixon said. “How could that happen in a secure lot?”
Dixon said he waited around for the St. Luke’s security guard to review the video surveillance and that within about 30 minutes the man came out and told him they could see on the video a van pull in about 5:20 p.m. on the evening Dixon was admitted to the hospital and park next to Dixon’s van. Dixon said he was told by the security officer that the video shows a man stepping out and getting under Dixon’s vehicle. The security officer wouldn’t let Dixon see the video, Dixon said, but assured him he was sending it to police.
Under Wisconsin open records laws, the Journal Sentinel requested the video from the Milwaukee Police Department but was told it doesn’t have any video from the incident.
Several days later, Cornejo, the department spokesman, said the incident is under internal review.
“We are reviewing the officer’s investigation of this incident,” he said.
Dixon said he was able to drive the van without the catalytic converter but worried that fumes could be leaking into the interior, making him drowsy and sick. And since his license plates expired in January, he hasn’t been able to renew them because the vehicle won’t pass the state emissions test. He doesn’t want to risk getting a ticket or getting his car towed. So now he pays $40 a month to store the vehicle.
And he rides the bus from his apartment in St. Francis to visit his mother in Wauwatosa, to Walmart to get groceries and to his frequent doctor visits at St. Luke’s. Out on disability from his truck and motorcoach driving jobs of nearly 30 years, Dixon has multiple health problems.
He said one night a couple weeks ago when he stepped off the bus near the Walmart, a dark-colored Dodge van pulled up and a young man stepped out holding a gun at his side and stared at Dixon in a threatening way. Dixon hurried away.
“If this thing was up and running and didn’t have that pipe stolen,” Dixon said of his minivan, “that wouldn’t have happened.”
When Dixon’s teenage son in Texas needed emergency brain surgery, Dixon had to rent a car to race down there to be with him.
“This whole thing has been so stressful and has cost me so much money that I don’t have,” he said. “My van may be old, but it’s been very well maintained and was trustworthy.”
Small claims suit
Dixon sought the help of students at Marquette Law School in filing a small claims suit against Aurora in the hope of forcing the hospital to take responsibility.
A hearing that was scheduled for January has been delayed while the courts try to catch up with the backlog from COVID-19-related cancellations.
In a brief filed with the courts by Aurora, shared with the Journal Sentinel by Dixon, Aurora alleges that since the parking lot was free and only staffed with an attendant for part of the day, and since Dixon did not turn his keys over to an attendant, the lot should not be considered as “secure.”
“Aurora did not obtain any degree of control over the vehicle,” the motion states, adding that “a reasonable person parking in the lot would not have assumed that the parking lot owner assumed responsibility for the vehicle.”
The brief confirms that Aurora’s security personnel, did, in fact, see the suspect’s vehicle on video surveillance. According to the brief, the security footage showed a “blue minivan pull up alongside the driver’s side of Dixon’s van at approximately 5:20 hours. Individuals in the blue van open the passenger side of their vehicle as well as the back door and began to jack up Dixon’s van and the individuals remove Dixon’s catalytic converter at approximately 5:22 p.m., let Dixon’s van down, return to their vehicle and depart the unsecured parking lot.”
The report states that Aurora’s security officer said the video was grainy and he was unable to obtain a description of the offenders or the make of their vehicle.
Peter Koneazny, chief staff attorney for Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee, said incidents such as what happened to Dixon have a cascading effect on people with lower incomes.
“There’s no cushion,” he said. “Transportation is incredibly important. If your car doesn’t work, everything else can spiral after that.”