Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Although the OP reported the men as 'taking' a bicycle and loading it into van, it would be helpful to have confirmed that the bicycle was in fact actually stolen - unless the van was also stolen it is pretty conspicuous and the thieves must be pretty brazen to be using it in theft.

I lost my key to my bike lock once. It was chained to a lamp post very close to the (old) New Scotland Yard. I hired a bolt cropper and removed it. Nobody batted an eyelid. On the belief that the activity was genuinely suspicious I am grateful to anyone reporting this; worst case is that it is totally innocent. If it was a legitimate removal of a dumped bike or one on private land then those taking it would be in some sort of livery.


Vehicles going up and down the road looking for scrap and junk are usually open caged trucks.


Of course normally I'd be defending those accused by the twitching curtains brigade.

The vehicle is Taxed and MOT'd till September 2021.


I cannot believe anyone would drive around in such a vehicle attracting attention

to themselves if they were on the Rob.


O.P. needs to change the title / Subject of this thread. (White LDV van stealing bikes) ???

How many Bikes ?? Stealing ??


DulwichFox.

Yes, I'll update if and when the police update me. In the meantime, to assuage the concerns of those generously offering the benefit of doubt above - the van pulled up, the driver stayed inside while the passenger opened the back up and then loaded a new-ish and reasonably expensive-looking bike into it which had been fixed to a lamp-post. The man pictured was wearing a cap and face mask and covered his face from me when he saw me filming. I could not see whether he cut the lock or had a key, so I can't confirm definitively that it was stolen as requested above. But the fact pattern strongly suggests so. Not clear why the possibility of them being scrap metal dealers and/or whether the van is stolen (unsure how you checked this?) would have any bearing on this.

Because you were not clear if the bike was actually stolen. You didn't see them cut or pick a lock, so the guy loading it could have had a key and been collecting it for someone.


I think until you hear from Police as to whether a theft actually did take place (an expensive bike would be reported as stolen if it indeed was), it is premature to post as though a theft had taken place and identify the vehicle you believe was engaged in a theft.


Given that you can not confirm the bike was indeed stolen, I suggest you amend the title of this thread to reflect that, because right now you are potentially libeling the driver and his passenger. Your impression does not constitute fact, until someone definitely reports that bicycle as stolen. To illustrate that, you believe you saw one bicycle being stolen, and yet you use plural in your title. See the problem?

Yes definitely innocent and not suspicious in any way. I expect they work for a charity and doing up old bikes for the NHS or orphans. I expect that probably people leave them to pick up chained to lamp posts. FFS. Good post.


The actions reported were certainly, on the face of it, suspicious, and recording details and even sharing them here (and certainly informing the police) was eminently sensible. But the van used, apparently not stolen, is very identifiable which makes its use in crime, at the very least, curious. Hence my initial cautionary note, supported by others who (unlike me) had bothered to check the van's status.


Perhaps because we are rarely exposed (in e.g. the news etc.) to good actions (because they are, generally, boring) but have a high exposure to bad we tend naturally to think the worst. Sometimes it's helpful to temper those thoughts, if remaining wary.

I don't want to get into the details but the reason I recognised the van and asked for the crime number is that a neighbour reported it to 111 a while back for behaviour that went beyond suspicious. No idea if it is the same people as dan saw but there may be a pattern here.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Latest Discussions

    • I am  ill in bed with Covid. It's not that I "can't be bothered" to read things. I am feeling crap and don't have the mental  energy at the moment. I am not "brushing stuff aside and pleading ignorance." I am truthfully saying when I don't presently know enough about something to be able to comment. I have always been very careful to try to  differentiate between fact and opinion in both  my posts and other people's, and I am not clear what your point is. And I am certainly not trying to wind anybody up. This is a forum. If you don't want to respond to my posts, that's up to you. I'm not sure why you feel the need to announce it.   
    • @NewWave I know how you feel. Like you, I've lived and spent prolonged periods of time in some pretty crazy places and always thought I could handle a bunch of kids. But, no - they got to me and I was shaking like a leaf afterwards. That's what age does to us.  But I did engage with them, so bear that in mind.  My advice would be to never let anything like that stop you doing the things you love. I'm certainly not going to stop using the park, there's no way they get to take away our cherished spaces!  If you see them, just change tack and keep out of their way. My dog won't even go that way again, so that's that problem solved. (If I see them again, I'm going to keep taking photos from a safe distance). 
    • Truly horrific. Being passive or fighting back is what many of us think about by violent theft. 
    • What ridiculous waste of money 
Home
Events
Sign In

Sign In



Or sign in with one of these services

Search
×
    Search In
×
×
  • Create New...