It’s been a few really bad days for Daniel Stewart and his family: a day after his wife, Jennifer, was diagnosed with a rare form of multiple sclerosis, both of his cars were stolen as he visited her in the hospital.
The string of bad luck is almost unbelievable for Stewart, who uses his car for his job as a driver.
Stewart says he lost his keys between the car and his wife’s hospital room at Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose on Sunday. When he went back out to the parking lot, his black Chevy Cruze was missing. The key to his other Chevy Cruze, parked at his home, was on that key chain. And his wallet was in the car - with information on where he lived.
When he returned home, his second car was gone, too.
"I figured if someone recovered the keys, more than likely they would try and steal the car. So, that's pretty much what happened,” Stewart said.
The cars aren't just transportation for Stewart. He takes his kids to school and his wife to her doctor’s appointments. Stewart says he also drives for Lyft.
Stewart finally received some good news on Monday night. Someone saw a car parked in an awkward position a few miles away from Stewart’s house and called police.
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“They felt it was suspicious enough to call and report to the police,” SJPD Officer Christian Camarillo said. “The caller provided the license plate of the vehicle, which we then verified was one of the outstanding stolen vehicles of the victim at Good Samaritan hospital,”
Now, Stewart has at least one of his cars back. He’s hoping his luck is starting to change.
"It's not about catching the people so much, it's above recovering the cars," he said. "It's not about the value of the car; it's about what the car enables us as a family to do."
