Newport reimburses couple who paid man false rate for beach parking
Parking at Corona del Mar State Beach turned into something of a mystery for one couple last week.
The Azusa residents pulled up to the stop sign before the beach entrance at about 9 a.m. July 8 when they were stopped by a man who told them they would need to pay $13 for an entire day’s worth of parking to enter the lot, police said.
The normal parking rate is $4 an hour, with a $15 daily maximum.
“He was wearing clothing that would have made him look like an official working for the city,” said Newport Beach police spokeswoman Jennifer Manzella. The city of Newport Beach operates Corona del Mar State Beach.
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The couple obliged, but once they parked, they realized the man hadn’t given them anything to put on their windshield to show they had paid. They noticed the pay stations where beachgoers usually pay to park and thought something was off.
They contacted the city’s revenue department, which called police to file a report.
The city reimbursed the couple the $13.
Police said the man, whose name was not released, was an employee of a company that contracts with Newport Beach. The man no longer works for the company, which also was not identified, police said.
He was not arrested or cited.
Manzella said it appeared to be an isolated incident but that police are looking for any similar cases.
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Hannah Fry, hannah.fry@latimes.com
Twitter: @HannahFryTCN
