The Investigators: JFK Airport parking nightmare

QUEENS (WABC) -- A man left his car in a long-term parking near John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, only to return to find it damaged and with thousands of extra miles.

It's an Investigators exclusive.

And Eyewitness News has also learned that the parking lot business has caught the interest of the NYPD.

Park N Save at JFK Airport is where Lee Afflerbach, a Maryland engineer, parked his car before heading off to Europe on a two-week vacation. When he returned, his car had a big dent in the front. He also found shopping receipts from stores in Harlem and the Bronx.

"Someone was joy riding around in my car," he said.

His E-ZPass bill confirmed his suspicions, showing three bridge tolls for his car, which was supposed to be securely parked at Park N Save.

"The vehicle had gone twice through the RFK Bridge and once through GW Bridge while I was in Europe," he said. "Yeah, it's kind of surprising to say the least."

For weeks, Lee sent letters and emails to Tony Mecciche at Park N Save, trying to get payment for the 2,000 extra miles on his car and the $2,000 dent. He then discovered that Park N Save had closed down and re-opened nearby under a new name, EZ Park N Save, run by the same person.

And that's where Lee and our undercover producer found Tony. He first denied any affiliation with the old Park N Save. Minutes later, though, he explained how he fired a security worker there for using the parked cars, including his wife's.

"The security guys that watched the cars used the cars," Tony said. "They used my wife's car, put 4,000 miles."

"How did the car get all over the place?" Lee asked.

"I had that driver fired," he said. "And I took the money from him, and I'm going to give it to you."

Tony then promised to send Lee a check for $2,000.

"I'll take care of everything," Tony said. "And you can bet my word is as good as gold. Ask anybody."

The next day, Jim Hoffer went to ask Tony some questions about what happened to Lee's car.

"Tell me what you know about it," Jim said.

"I don't know anything about anything," Tony said, as he tried to get away.

Tony, whose word is as good as gold ,didn't have a dime's worth of details about Lee's car or the many other complaints we've found about Park N Save.

"Why are you running from me?" Jim asked. "Were you guys running a side business? Why are you running, Tony? Tony, just talk to us."

He declined to elaborate.

The NYPD says they've received 11 formal complaints about Park N Save this year that the 113th Precinct is now investigating.