A Ferrari owner is suing Marriott International for negligence and gross negligence after the hotel's valet gave his $300,000 car to a stranger.
James Fowler, a 73-year-old senior partner at a law firm in Orlando, Florida, parked his yellow 458 Italia Spider outside the Vinoy Renaissance Resort & Golf Club in St. Petersburg, Florida, last July and when he came back for it, it was gone, reported Tampa Bay Times.
According to a St. Petersburg police report, Levi Miles, 28, walked by the Ferrari with Chloe Rimmer, 24, around midnight and told her the car was his. Miles then demanded the valet bring him the keys, telling him that the valet ticket was inside the car and he would bring it over later.
The police report stated that Miles "seemed to be impatient" and "demanding," which was likely because he wanted to distract the employee into forgetting to ask him for his ticket, reported Tampa Bay Times.
After the couple got into the car, the valet attendant became preoccupied with a busy period and stopped paying attention to the Ferrari after he realized he was not getting a tip.
The pair then drove off with the car. Police pulled the car over around 30 minutes later for a broken taillight and erratic driving.
Miles told the police officer he was a Marine and had borrowed his dad's car. The officer then spotted two grams of cocaine on the top of the center console and arrested Miles and Rimmer in two separate police cruisers.
When interviewed, Miles reportedly told conflicting stories, ABC News reported. But eventually he admitted that he had just meet Rimmer and had told her the Ferrari was his to impress her.
"I was just trying to impress the girl I just met at the Vinoy," he said.
Miles rejects charges against him of grand theft auto claiming the valet provided him with the keys. Police have also charged Miles with possession of cocaine and habitually driving with a suspended license. Rimmer is facing possession of marijuana charges after authorities found a gram of the substance in her purse.
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