Man trying car doors - Colwell Road approx 10pm Sunday 4 May

[kristen]

I spotted a man trying car doors starting from the Lordship Lane end of Colwell Road at 10.00pm Sunday 4 May.

I thought at first he had forgotten his keys but he progressed along the road trying each car as he went.

He was tall - grey clothes with cap/hat only saw the back of him.

He had a large Sainsburys bag with him

I was outside the Patch having a fag - I ran in asked the barperson to call the police

And then ran across the road & spotted him round the corner of Colwell doing the same.

I yelled at him as loudly as I could to pack it in & that I'd called the police.

He didn't turn round but stopped & walked off down Playfield Crescent.

Sorry not to post sooner - to warn people - I guess now it's just to remind people to lock car doors etc etc

Reported to 101

[sweetgirl]

similar thing happened on whateley rd last week wednesday. for some reason i opened my front door & saw a man standing very close to my car. i stood & watched him & a few minutes later he headed off in the direction of lordship lane. i knew he was up to something but couldn't figure out what. i then went & checked to see if my car was locked & thankfully it was. The next day my car was still in the same spot & i noticed the back door was not properly closed. im not sure what happened there but there were no signs of the door being forced opened. it happened around 11pm on wednesday night.

[Sue]

kristen Wrote:

> I yelled at him as loudly as I could to pack it in

> & that I'd called the police.

> He didn't turn round but stopped & walked off down

> Playfield Crescent.

>

xxxxxx

Great that you reported it to the police, but once you'd warned him that you had, unfortunately he wasn't going to hang around till they turned up, was he :(

[kristen]

Hi Sue, yes there probably was a better way of handling it - I reacted very quickly - I saw what he was doing & in the spur of the moment ran into the bar to ask them to call the police (they didn't) & ran out to confront him. When I did this I wanted him to know he was being watch & that someone would come along (so I said the police had been called) - this was partly because I was on my own & was worried about the possibility of being attacked. I possibly stopped him nicking stuff from that particular road - but he might have gone round the corner & done the same - or he might have felt sufficiently watched & with the prospect of the police coming along & potentially driving round he might have cleared off for the night. But who knows! I could have just left him - called the police and waited for them to arrive or followed him at a distance with my phone but I wasn't sure how long they'd take to turn up & as I said I reacted in the moment.

[Jeremy]

I think kristen did the right thing. To be honest I'm not even convinced the police would send anybody out, so no point waiting for them to turn up. Scaring him away seems like a decent result.

[LondonMix]

I agree with Jeremy

[Sophron]

So do I

[Siduhe]

Me too.

I'm reminded of a time last year when I saw a couple of guys try a neighbour's door and then disappear around the back. I went across the road, saw one of them in the neighbour's back garden and asked them politely who they were looking for, whereupon they left quickly (but also very politely I remember) back down the road saying they had the wrong house. I phoned the police at the time but they didn't show much interest or send anyone round based on my description of what I'd seen, until a day later when our neighbours got back from holiday and realised their car had been broken into at Heathrow Airport and a set of keys taken.

Sometimes, you have to do what feels right in that moment and I'm grateful that people like kristen are willing to challenge this kind of behaviour rather than necessarily wait to see what happens.

[Sue]

kristen Wrote:

When I did this I wanted him to know he was being watch &

> that someone would come along (so I said the

> police had been called) - this was partly because

> I was on my own & was worried about the

> possibility of being attacked.

xxxxxxx

Fair enough.

[leenorris78]

Just a word of warning if you have kids.

Our car was burgled a while ago and I was convinced I locked the door. I think my 1 yr old had my keys and, messing with the buttons, unlocked the car from the house. If thieves periodically check car doors, especially in Dulwich with a large proportion of toddlers, they will get lucky once in a while.

DON'T GIVE YOUR CAR KEYS TO YOUR YOUNG KIDS!!!

Lee

[alsmith]

Did you get a good description of him? I would love to know who this thief is. I took one child on Tuesday and my wife followed with the other. I had the car keys and obviously forgot to go back and lock it. On Wed I found my hands free kit gone and my sons 5th birthday present (maxi micro scooter) gone from the boot. Oh and 6 bags of hula hoops from the glove box.

BE VIGILANT. last time I knowingly left it unlocked a year ago the whole car was ransacked. It seems checking doors is more regular than you might think.

[CataRosca]

I think the same with the toddler handling the keys happened in my case. All I know is that one morning I found my car unlocked and the sat nav was missing. The car was parked in the front yard, inches from the window of our reception room.