Dude at least they didn't tase you

Lost a car, found a mess

Prowling the jammed mall lot draws unfriendly attention from security and police.

Larry DiSalvo called Saturday the worst shopping day of his life.

Not even close.

There he stood in the Tyrone Square Mall parking lot, surrounded by three police cruisers and mall security. Police had searched and interrogated him. All the while, DiSalvo said, shoppers gawked, perhaps wondering whom he had killed.

The 57-year-old said he was guilty of one thing: forgetfulness. He lost his 1991 Grand Marquis in a sea of 6,000 parked cars.

But mall security thought he was wandering the parking lot looking for cars to break into.

The result: He's banned from the mall for life.

"They gave me the shopping equivalent of a life term without any parole," the retired real estate agent said. "I'm a mall person. I grew up in malls. I've never in my 57 years on this planet had a problem in a mall.

"Unfortunately," he said, "today my unlucky number came up."

DiSalvo has no apparent criminal record. He said he is an honest Treasure Island resident who has shopped at Tyrone for 14 years without incident. He denied even thinking of breaking into a car.

Tyrone security refused to comment, and mall management did not return calls.

St. Petersburg police said they witnessed no crime, and just issued a trespass warning to DiSalvo at the request of the mall. "It's a decision made by the property owners," said police Sgt. Mark Degan, a shift supervisor. "The officers felt they didn't see any criminal intent," otherwise DiSalvo could have faced arrest.