CLEVELAND -- A 5 On Your Side investigation uncovered Metroparks crime hot zones.

About 45 million people visited Cleveland Metroparks last year without problems, but NewsChannel5 took a deeper look at parks in four counties and found police reports on everything from drugs to stolen cars.

Paula Doland said she never thought she'd be robbed in a crowded park.

"We just thought we were going for a nice day and have a good time and come home," said Doland.

Instead, her van was stolen in broad daylight.

In Metroparks from Cleveland to Lorain, Summit and Lake counties, a NewsChannel5 special investigation discovered more than 2,000 reported crimes.

"We're actually afraid to come by ourselves. We always make sure we have a group or we have at least two of us with us," park visitor Lara Reed said.

Among the reported crimes over the last two years, there were 715 involving drugs, 170 sex crimes, 162 cars broken into and 15 more cars stolen.

Cleveland's Metroparks Zoo topped the list for all Cleveland Metroparks for incident reports with 65 reported crimes.

NewsChannel5's surveillance found only one Metroparks ranger to cover a parking lot packed with hundreds of cars.

Undercover cameras caught that ranger sitting parked and talking on a cell phone.

The head of security for Cleveland Metroparks, Capt. Dan Velowski, said, "This is certainly something we will look closely at. We'll talk to the officer involved and we'll remind our whole staff of the importance of perception, what it might look like sitting still or what it might look like talking on a cell phone for a while."

And at other Metroparks, Summit's Firestone Reservation had 38 reported crimes. There were 50 at Lake County's Veterans Reservation.

At the top of the list for all Metroparks was Lorain's Black River Reservation with 317 reported crimes, mostly drug- and sex-related.

"I think it would be reasonable to see more park rangers but I also know that tax dollars are tight. Especially now with the economy the way that it is, to find the tax dollars to pay for the extra security," park visitor Michelle Wasserman said.

NewsChannel5 also found plenty of vandalism and property damage at parks. Those two crimes make up almost half of all reported crime at the Metroparks.

Those crimes cost valuable tax dollars for clean up and repairs.

To find the locations of the most crimes reported in the Metroparks, click here for an interactive map.