Work van stolen from hospital parking lot recovered in Detroit; $12,000 to $15,000 in equipment gone
William Roberts walked out of St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Superior Township last week just in time to see his work van being stolen from the hospital parking lot.
Roberts, an electrician for Dan Del Zoppo Electric in Ann Arbor, had no trouble identifying the vehicle as it pulled out of the lot. After all, it had the company’s unmistakable logo emblazoned on the side of it.
The logo didn’t help the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s department in catching the thieves, it did lead to the van's recovery.
A man called the company the next day after seeing the van parked in front of his grandmother’s home near Warren Avenue and Mount Elliot Street in Detroit.
Dan Del Zoppo and employee Harold Piehutkoski drove to Detroit to recover the van and found all the equipment gone. Del Zoppo estimated the value of the vehicle’s contents to be between $12,000 and $15,000. Though the locks and seat covers had been removed and the ignition damaged, the vehicle itself, a 2006 Ford E-250, was relatively intact.
“We were fortunate the young man called us,” Del Zoppo said. “If it had gone another night I’m sure the tires, catalytic converter — all the stuff — would have been gone.”
Roberts, an electrician for Del Zoppo for 13 years, said he was in the hospital, 5301 McAuley Drive, for roughly an hour, visiting a patient.
“I came out and just watched it drive away,” Roberts said. “I couldn’t tell who was driving, I could just see that it was leaving.”
The investigation remains open.
Contact Pete Cunningham at petercunningham@annarbor.com or by phone at 734-623-2561. Follow him on Twitter @petcunningham.
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