Doorstep Robbery on Crystal Palace Road

[malia]

On Thursday night I was robbed on my doorstep on Crystal Palace Road. The man followed me to the door and then started pulling me back and tugging on my bag strap to get it off me. He threw me on the ground and took off with my bag towards Landcroft Road with an accomplice. Please be aware and be on alert, apparently he has targeted lone women before. The best way I could describe him was stocky small build, thick but not long beard, beady eyes, brownish complexion and a black jacket with a knitted hat. If you see him please call the police, it would be nice to feel safe again while walking home.

Also if someone sees a light brown Zara handbag/pouch thrown somewhere please let me know, I would love nothing more than to just get my lovely but worthless things back.

Stay safe!

[Fra81]

I'm sorry to hear this and thanks for the heads up

[lordshiplaney]

Sorry to hear of your misfortune I hope you are ok and these scum make me sick. We will keep our eyes open

[singalto]

That's awful! Poor you. How are you doing?

[Angelina]

I am so sorry to hear that this has happened to you. How disgusting. I hope you are ok. What a vile person to do this.

[Dogkennelhillbilly]

Take care champ. That's awful.

[uncleglen]

Hi there. Sorry to hear this. What time did it happen?

[EDmummy]

How horrifying for you. I hope you're ok! What time of night did this happen? Was this top end of CP Rd?

Horrible human being!!

[Earl Aelfheah]

Wow, sorry to hear this, hope you're not too shaken. What a nasty piece of work this guy is, I hope he gets what's coming to him.

[malia]

Thank you all! It's so lovely to hear your kind words, it really means a lot!

I am slightly battered and bruised, but mostly just shaken up since you don't expect that to happen on your doorstep. I feel sick that there are people out there who would do such things and I hope that both of them will get what's coming to them.

The worst thing is I have nothing of worth so they literally got nothing out of this, but they left me with emotional damage of the attack. Horrible, horrible people.

[malia]

EDmummy Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> How horrifying for you. I hope you're ok! What

> time of night did this happen? Was this top end of

> CP Rd?

>

> Horrible human being!!

This happened on the South bit of the street, close to Lordship Lane. Be careful though because I think they know the surrounding area quite well.

[Angelina]

It's really important to remember that we are most vulnerable near home - particularly on our doorsteps - as we feel safe and drop our guard while fumbling for our keys etc....

Get your keys ready in advance, keep your eyes open, watch for people sitting in parked cars (obviously not an exhaustive list, but just some important things).

I once saw a man hiding behind my neighbour's tree in their front garden so proceeded to pretend to talk loudly to my dad announcing my arrival at the front gate... he ran off...

[tomskip]

Really sorry to hear of your awful experience malia.

[Henry_17]

Malia,

Sorry this happened. I will not tolerate this going on where I live. What time roughly was this?

[loobylou]

So sorry to hear this Malia, I live in this area, we will be extra careful. Hope you are on the mend x

[malia]

Hi Henry,

I happened on Wednesday night. I just hope that they are caught and will answer for their crimes. I am on the mend, but I don't think that I will ever be comfortable on my doorstep again.

[Applespider]

Hi Malia

Was really sorry to read about your experience. It happened to me about 9 years ago and it will take a bit of time before you feel comfortable. I m probably still warier than I used to be when walking home and heading for my door but the nervousness has gone. You might find yourself jumping at any noises behind you for a while and double checking over your shoulder. I would walk with keys out and prepared to scream if situation became threatening. If it was late and there was someone getting off a bus with me and looking like they were going my way, I did ask if they'd walk with me rather than behind which most were happy to do. One useful piece of advice I got was to get a motion activated light for your door partly as a deterrent but also because it can make you feel less vulnerable than being in dark.

I hope that you are able to put this behind you. Best wishes in doing so x

[malia]

Hi Applespider,

I am really sorry that this happened to you too and thank you for your kind words. The thing is I did have my keys ready and I did scream but it still wasn't enough. No one helped and no one did anything, except for one neighbour who opened her window to ask what happened after it had all been over with. I feel like with so many houses around surely someone would have heard something and surely someone would have come down to help, but I guess not? And funnily enough that in itself is the scariest part because even with so many people around, I was left to fend off the attack on my own.

[mynamehere]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aIJs2XItYVA

I am very sorry about what happened. Listen to the song by Phil Ochs from the 1970's.

[Applespider]

Oh no - that does make it even worse for you to feel so helpless. I was lucky that multiple neighbours came out to check what was happening and one memorably chased after the guy wearing just his pants (it was around midnight) much to the amusement of his wife who wondered what he planned to do if he'd caught up. I used to say that my neighbours' responses were one thing that helped me feel better so not having that must be even tougher.

I know many people now disregard car alarms etc as likely false alarms but it is depressing to think that a human scream could be dismissed if people were around to hear it.

[malia]

It really does, I think that would be a massive help, just to have people around me that would show up to help or even care.

Well, what is done is done, but if someone sees a bag like this (http://embed.polyvoreimg.com/cgi/img-thing/size/y/tid/142661027.jpg) anywhere, please please let me know. There was also a few bit and pieces of makeup in there, a book and a few other bits and bobs that I would love to get back.