The gov rides in a stolen car

Posted at 12:24 AM on August 27, 2008 by Tom Scheck (1 Comments)

It was a mix-up. Sweet ride though (note I highlighted the sweetness for your viewing pleasure):

Road tour: How's this for a presidential joyride?

When Sharky Laguana heard from an employee of his San Francisco company, Bandago, that one of his $65,000 rental tour vans had disappeared Sunday in Allentown, Pa., he called police. Officers put out an all points bulletin.

Imagine Laguana's surprise when he found out the next day that Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who is on John McCain's short list for vice president, was riding around in the "stolen" van all day campaigning for the Republican presidential nominee-to-be.

"I don't know that anybody could have picked my jaw up off the floor," the professed "political junkie" told The Chronicle's Tanya Schevitz.

Pawlenty didn't actually steal the van. It was all a mix-up - and a strange one at that.

Laguana, whose company rents out high-end vans to rock bands, had arranged for an employee to pick up the vehicle at the Allentown Holiday Inn once the group Everclear was done with it. But when the employee arrived at the hotel, he was told that a man in a blue suit already had driven the van away.

The man in the blue suit was a police officer, assigned to Pawlenty, who was supposed to pick up a rental at the hotel - but he wound up at the wrong Holiday Inn picking up the keys to the wrong vehicle.

"The driver said it was a little weird that there were a couple beers in the van when he picked it up," Laguana said.

He might also have wondered why the governor needed a 24-foot-long Dodge Sprinter van, loaded with a 20-inch LCD video screen with a DVD, an Xbox 360 game system and iPod.

After driving Pawlenty around on Monday, the driver called the number on a contract the band had left in the van. That's when he learned he had the wrong vehicle.

Laguana is now negotiating with the McCain campaign to cover the van's $200-a-day rent.

Comments (1)

Who knew Everclear was still around?

Posted by bsimon | August 27, 2008 3:34 PM

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