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Lawmaker's stolen car recoveredBy RYAN DAVIS, Times Staff Writer© St. Petersburg Times published December 29, 2001 NEW PORT RICHEY -- The Mike Fasano Missing Car Caper lasted just 12 hours. A woman suspected to be the "Ponytailed Bandit" was pulled over and arrested Thursday night, less than 2 miles from Fasano's office, and faces charges of stealing the Republican state representative's Lincoln Town Car, Pasco County sheriff's deputies said. The license plate, marked "state legislator 45," didn't help her hide. "The good thing that came from all of this is there was more gas in the car when it was returned than when it was taken," Fasano said. "Whoever stole the car was nice enough to put gas in." The bad news: It probably wasn't the same high-octane gas he uses in the 1995 model car. A happy Fasano continued Friday to describe the incident with one word: "bizarre." The car was taken about 8:30 a.m. Thursday from the parking lot of Fasano's legislative office, 8217 Massachusetts Ave. A witness said the thief had a ponytail. On Dec. 12, Fasano lost the two keys and door unlock remote to his car, he said. "When you lose something like that, every once in a while you start thinking, "Where could I have put those keys?' " he said. According to a deputy report, they wound up in the hands of Dian Chapin Foster, 48, who lives on Peggy Mac Lane, just behind Fasano's office. "It sounds like (she) found them in the parking lot," he said. Foster -- whose criminal history amounts to little more than trespassing warnings, charges and a conviction -- was stopped about 8:30 p.m. at Massachusetts and Congress avenues, driving the white car with the distinctive plates. She was being held Friday at county jail in Land O'Lakes in lieu of $5,000 bail. Fasano said he received the good news when Sheriff Bob White called his cellular phone. And so much for the theory that the bandit was a Democrat: The county Supervisor of Elections Office said Foster is not a registered voter.
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