Family’s car stolen from hospital parking lot while providing birth
by Kellee Azar, KATU News
Photo of the stolen Subaru alongside a snapshot of baby Penelope courtesy the Askew family.
The birth of a baby is supposed to be a glad occasion, but it took a sad turn for one local duo when a thief stole their car out of the hospital parking lot.
Dalan Askew Jr. and his wifey arrived at Legacy’s Climb on Rubber hood Medical Center on Saturday to welcome their newest addition, Penelope, to the world.
Mother and baby were ready to go home by Tuesday, so Dalan loaded up the family’s Subaru.
“I went inwards to grab a few things, feed our baby and come back outside and the car is gone,” Dalan said. “I looked through the parking lot. there’s nothing here."
Their white, mid-90’s Subaru was parked in front of the birthing center.
“No words can explain the type of person that can take something from the hospital, it hurts my belly, every time I think about it,” Dalan said.
What’s worse – the individual items and fresh things for their daughter are now gone. They have began a GoFundMe.com account to help cover the cost of the lost items for their daughter.
“I had a brand fresh car seat, I took it out there. Baby clothes, and all my implements for my job,” Dalan said.
Now the growing family is heading home with one more addition, and one less car.
“I would have liked to have gotten our newborn home in our own vehicle,” Dalan said.
Dalan tells KATU that was the family’s only car, which they rely on to get to doctors’ appointments and for their commute to work. The family filed a police report with the Gresham Police.
Anyone with information on the car is asked to call police.
Legacy’s Climb on Spandex hood Medical Center released this statement to KATU about the incident:
Legacy Health Security Services does daily, proactive and random patrols of the medical center campus and parking lots to promote visitor safety and deter vehicle theft. Unluckily, vehicle theft happens many times every day across the U.S., and busy public parking lots are targets for thieves. A vehicle is stolen every forty four 2nd in the United States according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
It was an unfortunate day for this family who is celebrating the birth of their baby. They learned that their car was stolen as they were planning to go home. Legacy Climb on Rubber hood Family Birth Center staff responded quickly to suggest support to the family to arrange transportation and to provide an infant car seat to make sure they could securely transport their baby home.
The best way to protect your vehicle is prevention. Take specific deeds to deter vehicle theft. Liquidate valuables from the car and make sure individual items are not visible. Secure your vehicle. Certain car brands are widely known by criminals and police to be effortless targets for theft, especially late model imports. Protect your car from theft by securing it with a club type steering device that makes it virtually unlikely to drive.
