Student helps recover her own stolen car

When fourth year Dental student Patricia Gibbons told University Police that her car had been stolen Monday night, she didn't expect to see it again any time soon. Gibbons had borrowed her father's car after her car broke down last weekend. And she decided to park it in the University-owned parking lot at 40th and Walnut streets for extra security. Within 24 hours, though, the Cadillac El Dorado had been stolen. Tuesday night, though, as she waited for an Escort van to take her to 30th Street Station, she was shocked to see what she thought was her car double parked in front of Lee's Hoagie House at 40th and Walnut streets -- the same block from where it was stolen. Gibbons ran outside and checked the license plate. After confirming that the car was hers, she ran to a nearby pay telephone and called 911. "The guy [who allegedly stole the car] was inside of Lee's when she called," University Police Sergeant Keith Christian said last night. But while she was on the phone with the police dispatcher, the man drove away. Within seconds, the area was flooded with police. "They responded so rapidly, that even if he had left the area, he would have been caught," Gibbons said. "They were just driving around like it was theirs." Then, the car re-appeared on the block -- it appeared the driver was looking for parking -- and police pulled the car over and arrested the driver. Two other passengers in the car were released, though. When the car was returned to Gibbons, the Dental student said she was "thrilled," although there was some minor damage to the car, including a broken steering column. "It was a huge stretch of luck," she said. "[My father] didn't even know that I borrowed it and here it was stolen within a day. I was perturbed."