Woman's parking causes shoplifting mix-up

[Hum]

DOUGLAS COUNTY, GA ? A Douglas County woman is warning others about parking in the emergency lanes outside stores.

Michelle Daniel said she will never stop in a fire lane again after she was just feet away from a crime in progress. A Douglas County deputy approached Daniel thinking she was involved in a shoplifting at a Publix on Lee Road in Douglasville.

"He said, 'Well there is a shoplifting going on in this store and usually the getaway cars are parked in the fire lanes.' I said, 'Well no, not me. I'm not the one,'" said Michelle Daniel.

Daniel said she's glad the deputy who questioned her believed her.

"He said, 'It's not good to be there because anything could happen really,'" Daniel told Channel 2's Craig Lucie.

Lucie interviewed Douglas County Sheriff Phil Miller about the incident.

"He (the deputy) was concerned she might be a part of the crime," Miller said.

As Daniel sat parked in the fire lane, Miller said 56-year-old George Davis was inside the Publix stealing nearly $200 in groceries. A Publix employee chased Davis out of the store, and Davis had enough time to get in his car, which he then used as a weapon, deputies said.

"The guy in the vehicle hit this store employee with his car," Miller explained.

The Publix employee is OK, and a deputy caught Davis shortly after. But Miller said shoplifters have targeted the Publix on Lee Road 19 times in the last year and parking in the fire lane gives them an easy escape.

"If they have a getaway driver, they are going to park as close to the door as they can," Miller said.

Lucie stopped by several Publix shopping centers with lines of cars parked in the emergency lanes.

Lucie also watched as a man put on his hazard lights and went shopping. Michelle Daniel said she hopes others will learn from her experience that may have had a different ending. She said she realizes she could have been carjacked or the deputy could have written her a ticket for $250.

source & video

[Teebor]

I though parking in fire lanes/emergency lanes was an offence anyway?

[Hum]

^ I think most stores let it slide a little, if you are picking up stuff you bought, like a big boxed TV.

[Charisma Veteran]

That's stupid. "Don't break the law, because in addition to breaking the law, other bad stuff could happen too!"

How about just, you know, don't break the f***ing law. That lane is there for a reason, like an emergency, which is more important than anything you're picking up. Quit being lazy. Honestly, I hate people sometimes.

...also, get off my lawn.

[neufuse Veteran]

ugh I HATE when people park in the fire lanes, I know most of the time its older people but seriously they have handicap spaces if you need them.... and dont drive up drop off your wife to shop then sit there in the lane in a car!

you are not supose to park there, you can stop, drop off or pick up stuff there but thats like under a couple minutes type of stuff... around here older people seem to think they are privladged to park in the fire lane and its ANNOYING

[majortom1981]

I though parking in fire lanes/emergency lanes was an offence anyway?

It is illegal and its the local fire marshal that gives tickets for it. So it does not matter wether the store allows for it or not.

Firemarshals give tickets to people all the time for even sitting in the car and waiting in a fire lane.