Woman calls for better airport security after car stolen, stripped

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A local woman named Katy returned home from a trip Sunday, only to realize her car had vanished from the John Glenn International Airport parking garage.

Katy said she's upset beyond belief.

"I was blown away because this is an airport which I assumed is the safest place in our city," she said.

Katy said she's flown out of the airport three times just this past month. She typically leaves her car on the fifth floor of the long-term parking garage. But, after this experience, she said she won't be again. Her Jeep Cherokee was nowhere to be found Sunday.

"We were turning the panic button on," Katy said. "We walked every single row on the fifth floor, baffled, looking at each other like, 'I wonder what's going on?'"

After much searching and no luck, Katy filed a police report. She said she took an Uber home in complete disbelief. She said she spoke with an airport police officer on Monday.

"He told me that you will never find out what happened to your car that night because the surveillance cameras in the garage are subpar," Katy said. "They don't show much of the garage and they often are broken."

Katy is calling on the airport to update its security systems to prevent this from happening to anyone else.

According to the airport, John Glenn International maintains more than 800 cameras throughout the airport, and it continuously works to upgrade and improve this system to enhance security.

A spokesperson for the airport said the security cameras are operational, including the cameras in the garage. She also shared this statement:

"The parking garage is a public space, and while incidents like this are rare, cars can be stolen from any parking lot, including ours. Ten vehicles have been stolen from the parking garage over the past six years. We expect between 900,000 to 1 million vehicles to park in the garage in 2024."

"It is expensive to park there," Katy said. "I know they have millions of cars go through that parking garage. They should be able to have state-of-the-art equipment that monitors in and out and it also has great surveillance."

Data shared by the airport reveals ten vehicles have been stolen from the airport parking garage in the past six years, including three this year and six last year.

"Something needs to change and it needs to change right away," Katy said.

Wednesday, Katy learned her car was found by Columbus Police. She said it was totaled on the side of the road and taken to an impound lot.

"I walked by it ten times until someone said, no, that's your car," Katy said. "It was completely stripped of everything."

Katy said now that she knows what happened to her car, that's a side issue. She said the main issue now lies with airport security. She said while the car can be replaced, someone's life cannot.

"We have to know the cars going in, the cars going out," Katy said. "It needs to be monitored. The surveillance needs to be top-notch."

Katy said the entire situation is baffling to her because there's only one way in and one way out of the garage. 

"The security to get into the airport is so strict, and right there attached to the airport you have a situation where they're not monitoring it," Katy said. "They don't know the comings and goings of the cars. This should make us all stop and take notice." 

According to Katy, she was told by a parking attendant that they had record of her entering the parking garage three times within the past month, but no record of her ever leaving.

Katy said the airport is the hub of our community, and as Columbus continues to grow rapidly, she wants the airport to take a look at what security measures other cities have in place.