First it was a lengthy traffic delay, then a filled-to-capacity parking lot, then bad advice from a parking lot attendant and then the sight of his van on the bed of a tow truck.

"I don't want it to happen to any other Steelers fan or anyone else," said Bruno Karpuzi of West Deer, referring to a very expensive experience.

Mr. Karpuzi, 38, who owns and operates Bruno's Restaurant Pizzeria on East Hardies Road in Hampton, took the night off last Thursday to take his son, Arlind, 13, to the Steelers game.

He pulled into a parking lot near Heinz Field, but it was full. He said an attendant gave him directions to a lot where there might be room. There was.

He and his son were returning to that lot after the Steelers 19-16 victory over the Carolina Panthers when they saw their van on the tow truck.

"I asked the driver what was he doing with my car," Mr. Karpuzi said. "He said I had parked on private property."

When he returned to the lot, Mr. Karpuzi said he noticed -- for the first time -- the ominous signs that he didn't see in his haste to park and get to the game.

Some badly faded and barely legible red and white signs said the parking was intended "for U.S. Postal customers only."

Other signs warned:

"Tow-away zone. Unauthorized vehicles will be towed at vehicle owner's expense 24 hrs/7 days. Lytle Street Towing. 412-377-9888."

Mr. Karpuzi called the number. He said the woman who answered the phone told him to bring $270 in cash to recover his car. He and his son took a cab to Lytle's lot in Hazelwood.

"My van was still on the truck," he said. "The driver said the fee was $315. I told him the woman said $270. He said he didn't care what she had told me. He had an attitude."

Fortunately, Mr. Karpuzi had enough cash to get his van. The next day, he went to the Allegheny Station and spoke to a manager and a supervisor, neither of whom would provide their names. "They said they had no control over towing," he said. "The police told me the same thing because it's private property."

"Doesn't Lytle Towing answer to anyone?"

If it does, it wasn't saying. It didn't return a phone call.

The lot serves a post office across the street from Allegheny Center. It is bordered by Federal Street and a wall that supports elevated railroad tracks.

I called Tad Kelley, a spokesperson for the postal service.

"The Allegheny Station is a leased facility," he said. "We share the lot with a business behind the postal facility. We do not set towing rates; that is the business of the towing company.

"One of the problems we face with people parking there after hours is that often cars stay there overnight. We do have trucks go in there during weekends to dispatch mail. In the past, there were cars left there and trash left behind from tailgaters."

Bottom line: don't park there.