Youth's Joy Ride Leads To Nothing but Sadness

Lisa Gressen left her minivan in a commuter parking lot in Clinton early one morning in December. As was her usual routine, she hopped a bus to the Branch Avenue Metro station, then took Metrorail to work in the District. When she returned to the station parking lot that cold evening, she noticed an empty parking space where she had left her car.

At first she thought, "I'm losing it."

It turned out that somebody had stolen her mint green, 1999 Plymouth Grand Voyager -- the vehicle that she, her husband and their three children used almost every day.

The minivan, which happens to be among the area's most-stolen vehicles, according to the Maryland Vehicle Theft Prevention Program, was recovered six days later.

Two juveniles and one adult were arrested for stealing the minivan and for leading police on a high-speed chase on Route 1 through Laurel to College Park. The chase ended when the thieves crashed the minivan into a pole.

When Gressen, 34, finally saw her minivan, she said she became nauseated.

The car's passenger side had been smashed in and the bumper was on the ground. Inside, trash was everywhere. Cigarette butts littered the the floor. The smell of smoke was everywhere. Both airbags had deployed as a result of the crash. Some of the items she had left in the car were gone. The ashtray that held her coins was empty.

The insurance company determined the car was "a total loss."

Gressen, a Clinton resident, was reimbursed, but the amount was several hundred dollars short of what she needed to pay off her car loan. She purchased a new vehicle.

Greesen learned that the youngster charged with stealing her car was ordered to enroll in a county program that attempts to rehabilitate juvenile offenders.

At a court hearing on her case, Gressen said the judge prompted the offender to say something to Gressen. She said he apologized to her.

"I truly don't believe this young man understood the heartache he caused just on a joy ride," she said.

-- ARUNA JAIN