Only in, but suprisingly in NY

Probably one of the weirdest things I've seen ever has occurred over the past two days.
My friend came over to my apartment yesterday about midday and as we were walking Keona, I noticed a car on the street was running. You could see steam, smoke, exhaust, whatever, coming out from the tail pipe. There was no one in the car. It was parked. The keys were in the ignition. I've seen the car before, so I assume it belongs to someone that lives in the area. I figure, "well, someone must have just ran into their apt. to get something."

Later that night when I get home from work and let Keona out around 10:30pm-ish and the car was still there. Still running. Keys still in ignition. Again, I just kind of thought, "hmm... weird."

It wasn't until this morning, when I saw it for a THIRD time on the street, parked, running, and keys in ignition. So, I didn't know what else to do besides call the local police office and report it. They said they'd send someone out to have a look. Well, apparently, the information I gave was not good enough because when I came home the car was STILL there. However, I also saw police lights. There happened to be an officer looking in the car talking on his radio.

I told him that I had called it in this morning and was curious if they were just now finding it. He said that they were never able to locate it. It just so happens he was off duty and someone else had flagged him down to report it (also another person who is out walking their dog frequently and noticed it.) So, the police officer said they had an address for the owner and would try to track her down. About 10 minutes later, the car was towed away.

I, unfortunately, don't know what the story is behind it. BUT where in the world would you be able to leave your car running for a day and a half and NOT have someone break in and steal it? Do I live in that good an honest of a neighborhood? Or is NY just so backwards and full of fear that people are paranoid and suspicious beyond belief that they won't touch a car that's handed to them on a silver platter? Who would leave a car for that amount of time, and what good reason could they possibly have for doing so?

I just hope that the owner is ok.