Deputies surprised to find flashing loot in trunk of parolee's car.

A load of parking meters was the last thing deputies
expected to find in the car of a parolee they questioned at 4 a.m. Monday.

Especially in Santa Clarita, a city that doesn’t use parking meters.

Rick Alan Day, 44, was rummaging through donations left
outside a Salvation Army store on Sierra Highway
at Sierra Cross when deputies stopped to question him. Discovering he was a
parolee, they searched his car and found three parking meters that had been cut
off their poles, as well as the pole shears allegedly used to remove them.

Sgt. Debra Miller told KHTS that the meters’ lights were
still flashing and money was still inside the meters.

“There was no identifying information on the outside of the
meters,” she said. “So we called Santa Monica
and they are sending someone over, but they could be from anywhere.”

Miller said that serial numbers and money are only
accessible with a special key that only enforcement officers and traffic
officials from the victim city would have.

Day is being held without bail at the Santa Clarita Valley
station; he is due in Santa Clarita Superior Court on Wednesday.