Dan Gross | Where are Maia & the car?

ADD ANOTHER chapter to the sad saga of actress

Maia Campbell, daughter of late author Bebe Moore Campbell. Mount Airy's Kevin Taylor filed a police report Monday accusing Campbell, who co-starred with LL Cool J on the series "In the House," with stealing his Jeep in Germantown.

According to Taylor and his friend Steve Johnson, the pair left Campbell and the car keys alone in the white 1998 Jeep Cherokee registered to Taylor's father, Christ Taylor, as they went into Johnson's home to retrieve musical gear. When they came outside minutes later, Campbell and the car were gone, they said.

Bebe Moore Campbell died of brain cancer in November, one day after her daughter's 30th birthday. Maia Campbell recently had Internet chatrooms buzzing over a video in which she appears to be naked and singing an Ashanti song, in a video clip posted on mediatakeout.com. The site alleges the clip was made in exchange for crack cocaine. Sources say Campbell has been floating around Germantown of late and doesn't seem to be in a good way.

Taylor and Johnson each left messages on Campbell's cell phone, but she did not return the calls. Nor did she return a message we left her yesterday.

Johnson befriended Campbell and invited her Monday to hang out with him and Taylor. In recent years Campbell appeared in videos for Tyrese, Fat Joe and ex-Center City resident Lil' Kim.

Northwest Detectives are investigating the auto theft. Anyone with info on the whereabouts of the car or Campbell is asked to call 215-686-3353.

Silver lining on Alycia's cloud?

The Alycia Lane scandal could be a blessing in disguise for CBS 3 during the critical May sweeps period. TV insiders say ratings were up for CBS 3's evening newscasts Tuesday and projected another boost yesterday.

The increased eyeballs are likely due to the New York Post's Page Six report Tuesday that the anchor had upset Suzy Shuster, wife of NFL Network anchor and former ESPN host Rich Eisen, by e-mailing photos of herself in a bikini to the broadcaster.

A station spokeswoman, who declined to comment on any boost in ratings, says Lane has declined to make the photos available to us. In a statement Tuesday, Lane said that she and Eisen have been friends for 10 years and that there was "a misunderstanding" over "harmless pictures" of her and her friends.

The photos in question, sources say, were taken on a recent trip to California during which editors and producers at CBS 3 were left to do the heavy lifting on Lane's 30-minute special on Jon Bon Jovi and Project HOME's Sister Mary Scullion. During Lane's vacation, we're told, other staffers were left to compile her submission tape for the regional Emmys.

"It's tough being married to such a handsome guy," Shuster said last night through spokesman Tom Keaney, who declined to address our accusation that Shuster had leaked the e-mails to Page Six.

Booze ballots at Water Works

Water Works Restaurant and Lounge owner Michael Karloutsos, a former political consultant, has created a drink in honor of each mayoral candidate, and the restaurant has a dry-erase board keeping tally of the "vote." Our favorite is the Al Taubenberger: a Courvoisier sidecar, "Perfect when you are just along for the ride."

* 6ABC's Monica Malpass and NBC-10's

Aditi Roy were among guests at a book party for Sasha Issenberg's "The Sushi Economy," Tuesday at the beautiful restaurant along the Schuylkill.

'Gilmore Girls' going to church

R5 Productions' Sean Agnew was at First Unitarian Church (2125 Chestnut) Tuesday, when Andrew W.K. was doing a spoken-word event, when the text messages began pouring into his cell phone. The church, where he books indie rock, punk and hip-hop shows, had just been name-dropped on "Gilmore Girls." Agnew said he thought it was all a big mistake until he downloaded the episode yesterday and saw for himself.

Agnew was surprised, and points out that Tokyo Police Club, a real band with whom a "Gilmore Girls" character was to tour, actually played the First Unitarian several weeks ago.

Art imitating life indeed. *

If you have something you'd like to share with Dan, call 215-854-5963, or e-mail grossd@phillynews.com. To read Dan's recent columns, visit http://go.philly.com/dangross.