Burglary - Choumert Rd (April 10 2012)

[Brulysses]

Hi,

Just to warn any bike owners, someone broke into our shared hallway over the weekend, while we were away and made off with my mountain bike (MARIN, black and metallic olive brown, Pioneer Trail, full size, knobbly tyres, very good nick), no idea if this was random or someone had been watching. Unfortunately, I had been a little complacent and not really questioned my landlord about the inadequate front door lock, so I'm afraid I was a little to blame, but still...

...gutted...

Bruce

[catma]

Thanks for the warning.

[HelBel65]

Sorry to hear that. You are NOT to blame!

:X

[James Barber]

Hi Brulysses,

Really sorry to hear you've lost your bike.

Hope this doesn't discourage you from cyclnig or getting a replacement bike.

You might like to consider getting a floor or wall anchor to lock your bike to in the shared hallway.

Even I've been able to install one. It cost me ?15 and came with a special drill bit. You can get really fancy anchors all stainless steel for more.

[Brulysses]

Hi,

Thanks for the support, much appreciated. I reported it yesterday and the duty officer and detective sergeant were very helpful...they seemed to agree that I could have been watched, as they obviously seemed to know I had a bike, but they also pointed out that while the front door was frosted, our mail box has no hood, so an inquisitive little sh*t could just open it and look through to see what's in the hall. Anyway, lessons learned, like the idea of the anchor (thanks James)and time to get the landlord to put some serious locks on doors.

Cheers

Bruce

[bloonoo]

Sorry to hear that Bruce. I noticed our front door yesterday looks like it has been tampered with by a would be thief - it looks like someone has tried to pry open the door with a crow bar as there's cracks in the paint and wood where the frame meets the door. scary stuff!

[lnprett]

Oh no I am sorry to hear about your bike. Do you have insurance? You may be able to claim it on your home/contents insurance? If you do replace your bike you could maybe think about bike insurance. I didn't really know that there are specialist bike insurance companies until I was buying a new bike and the guys recommended it to me. It may be worth looking into. They did say though that it is important to buy a lock with a price approx. 10% of the cost of your bike as insurance companies won't pay out if it is a cheap lock. I know a little late but may be something to think about. Hope this is of help!

[camberlou]

Hi Bruce, sorry to hear about your bike. I must admit I've given up trying to insure bikes. I had a bike stolen from the shared entrance to the flats and it wasn't insured under either my contents policy or my specific bike insurance as it was locked with a cable lock, not a D-lock. We aren't allowed to install a wall or floor anchor as the entrance is part of the fire escape route (despite there being space under the stairs which is well out of the way) and Dlock was too small to reach any solid object. I also wasn't covered when another bike was stolen early one morning - the policy excluded thefts between 11pm and 7am. I now use a gold rated D-lock on the frame and have Pinhead locks on both wheels. Which didn't stop someone nicking the saddle last year!

[uncleglen]

Yes we have had marks on our front door near the lock. People should be able to booby trap their personal property in much the same way that cash boxes are!

[Brulysses]

Thanks again for the comments and advice, most welcome! Still not sure about the insurance, but feeling less so after Camberlou's post, insurance company not paying out, whoda thunk it...I had a D lock on my bike but it wasn't secured to anything, and it was stolen in the morning, so I'm probably f*****. However I do think it behooves us just to be a little more alert to strange people behaving oddly in our respective 'hoods, and not to be afraid to call the police or even a neighbour if our suspicions are raised, particularly if they're hovering around a house. Unfortunately, while I agree with UncleGlen's sentiments, I just want to say that it is currently completely illegal to deliberately booby-trap your property!

Be safe

Bruce

[catma]

Perhaps we should have a Choumert Road neighbourhood watch? Insurance always asks me if I'm in one - if it brought down insurance costs I'd be interested. Which bit of Choumert are you?

[Brulysses]

Near Bellenden...we did have a little group of Choumert residents get together after the riots, and met a few times but it seems to have died back...I might see if we can get together again and sort something out, I seem to remember one of the guys was a policeman.

[catma]

I missed those and emailed the guy but never heard anything...be interested though in anything.

[Chiara]

I think the people who started off the Choumert Road meetings after the August Riots got tied up with work & other commitments, and some people couldn't make it on a specific day each month, so it seems to have lapsed. However, if a sufficient number of people were interested in setting up a Neighbourhood Watch, it might be a good idea to discuss. Not sure exactly what a Neighbourhood Watch entails in way of time & commitment. Does anyone know about the set up, & do we liaise with local police?

[klikker22]

Some of us are still meeting up on Choumert occasionally....there is a group on Facebook that you can join (https://www.facebook.com/groups/244912855548760/) but numbers definitely have dwindled since last August.

I would also be interested in the neighbourhood watch idea...

We were about to put a bike box out the front but maybe its not such a good idea. Anyone had any problems with those?

[gg96cgp]

I would also be interested in the neighbourhood watch idea if we could extend it to Maxted Road as well.