Parking officer missed abduction The AGE Andrea Petrie February 23, 2008
PARKING officers are likely to take extra notice of what's going on inside the vehicles they fine after an officer recently issued a fine to a car while a woman was being threatened at knife point in the back seat.
Police have confirmed that an armed bandit confronted an 82-year-old Heidelberg woman and her 60-year-old daughter at their Rosanna Road home on February 9 and demanded cash.
The man forced the pair into one of their cars and took them on a frightening, four-hour drive across the city to several ATMs.
When the car was illegally parked outside an ATM in Fitzroy, a parking officer slapped a fine on it, failing to notice the terrified woman, or the man pressing a knife into her.
The ordeal ended after the women convinced their kidnapper to let them call a relative and organise a ransom payment. When the trio returned to the house, another daughter was waiting with $150, which the kidnapper took before fleeing.
Detective Senior Constable Shane Manuell, from Heidelberg police, said the women hesitated to call police, fearing that their kidnapper would return.
Yarra Council acting chief executive Ivan Gilbert said: "Our parking officers are trained and encouraged to report anything they think is suspicious. However the unfortunate reality is that it is often unsafe for them to inspect inside a vehicle, approach a driver or even communicate with people in cars.
"I have no doubt that if this officer had noticed anything suspicious in the car they would have reported it immediately."
The fine is expected to be withdrawn.
Mr Gilbert said a Yarra Council parking officer recently had face surgery after being assaulted by a motorist. The officer asked the driver to move his vehicle from a no-standing zone so he would not have to issue a fine when the man turned on him.