Disabled mortuary student denied parking for hearse

LOS ANGELES -- A disabled mortuary student is in a bizarre battle for a parking spot at her South Los Angeles apartment complex.

Samantha Kidner, 18, drives a 1996 Cadillac Fleetwood federal hearse. She's tried parking it in the handicapped parking spots at her apartment complex near USC, but staff have said she can't because tenants find it creepy.

"They're like, 'We don't want it on the property at all,'" said Kidner, who has handicapped license plates.

As a result, she's been forced to park her hearse in front of a children's orthopedic hospital, something she says is even creepier.

"I've had five brain surgeries as a child," Kidner said. "Parents don't want to come see their kids in the hospital and see a hearse parked in the parking lot."

The complex, called The Lorenzo, assigned her family a spot for a compact car that is up against a wall, she said.

"One, my car won't fit there. Two, I would never be able to get my wheelchair out," Kidner said.

In a statement, management for The Lorenzo said several residents were "creeped" out by the hearse.

"It's uncomfortable. I don't even want to know what's in the car," USC student Arya Sadeghi said.

Laura Nissley, a spokeswoman for The Lorenzo, added that Kidner isn't even on the lease.

"Samantha Kidner is not a resident of Lorenzo, nor does she have an active lease to become a resident in the future. If she is the one operating the vehicle, then there is guest parking made available to her on a first-come, first-serve basis same as anyone else," Nissley said.

Kidner said her mom and sister are named in the lease.

For now, she's just worried that she'll be kicked out of the complex all because of a car that most people will eventually ride in.

"It's a very unique car, but it's still a car," Kidner said.