SUN LAKES -- A Valley woman claims she was victimized once when someone stole her golf cart then she was victimized again.
A golf cart is almost like a second car for some folks. That is certainly the case for residents who live in Sun Lakes out on the east side of the Valley.
Ann Hanson had no idea just how important her golf cart was until someone stole it.
In Sun Lakes just about everyone has a golf cart. You see them on the street, you see them in garages and you see them, well, at the clubhouse.
"Well, yeah, we really enjoyed our golf cart," Hanson said. "We didn't use it for golfing, but we did use it to go back and forth to the swimming pool."
Hanson and her husband use their golf cart a lot, especially since it's a little difficult for him to get around. So, you can imagine how upset they were when they came home one day and found their golf cart missing from the spot where they'd left it.
"Yeah, very disappointed," Hanson said. "I knew it had been stolen."
The good news is the police had found the Hansons' golf cart abandoned nearby on the Gila River Indian Reservation and had a towing company pick it up.
The bad news is Hanson says the towing company wanted $703 to release the cart back to her.
The company that towed the golf cart is Elite Towing in Casa Grande. Hanson says she talked to the owner of Elite Towing to see if $703 was the correct amount. It was.
"He said it cost him the same to pick up an $80,000 car or a $400 golf cart," Hanson said.
The owner of Elite Towing spoke to 3 On Your Side and even showed us the golf cart.
He tells us it took a 4-wheel drive tow truck to get to the golf cart then it then took one of his big flat-bed trucks to haul it back to his yard.
All of that took up two of his drivers, not to mention the fact they both had to drive 30 miles to the reservation at a cost of $6 a mile, so he says the $703 tab was correct.
But considering the circumstances, the owner of Elite Towing decided to waive the $703 tab and allowed Hanson to pick up her golf cart absolutely free.
Now, the couple's golf cart is right back where it belongs -- their home. It's something they say they couldn't have done without the help from 3 On Your Side.
Of course, a big thank you to Elite Towing for working with me on this one and waiving the $703 charge.
