Petrol thefts in Wood Vale

[themaninblack]

I walked out this morning to find no petrol in my car. Again.

The lady at the met who took my details sounded less than interested, but it has been reported.

(6)

[TJ]

Thanks TMIB - I have contacted the press and they seem interested in running a story.

[themaninblack]

I would be happy to talk to them. When I've calmed down from the shouting I am doing at the moment that is!

[MissSophie]

Morning

I had the misfortune of having my bike drained this morning - not the ideal for first thing on a Monday. This, plus a recovery cost and a mechanic to fix (they pulled or cut the petrol lead to drain it) has made the whole affair rather frustrating. Can I ask, is there anyway I can fix this myself in person if/when the lowlife decide to do it again? There is no way of securing it and even though I will make them know I am watching, just wondering how I can avoid a hefty bill each and every time? I can't park it anywhere else other than on the street.

Thanks

[snowman]

Hi MissSophie

sorry to hear about this, I have been a victim of this twice in the past few weeks. Please report it to the police (I did and it really doesn't take long), at least they will see a pattern emerging and might decide to do something about this.

I totally understand your frustration...in theory you should be able to simply put back the petrol lead in and fix the retaining clip in place (they tend to pull it rather than cutting it in my experience). Having said that, the last time they did my bike they broke the connecting 'bit' between the lead and petrol tank and I was left with a nice and hefty bill for its replacement. I have asked the garage if there is an easy fix for this type of theft but apparently there isn't. The only solution is to find a secure parking space (I have started a thread in the 'wanted' section to rent a garage/similar but no luck so far - I am also stuck with parking on the street). It would also be interesting to know in which area this happened to see if it is in the vicinity of all the other thefts.

Hopefully it will not come to this but if the thefts do not stop then I might have to sell the bike and find an alternative mean of transport which would be extremely annoying and frustrating.:'(

[MissSophie]

Thanks snowman, I have reported it if anything to be another number in a statistic - but I shall also be leaving these 'people' a note to make them aware that they are being watched. All very dull, and frankly very sad of individuals who clearly have nothing better to do.

In answer to your location question, I live near Peckham Rye Park (Cheltenham Park Road end).

Would be interested to know if we all go to the same garages, desperate times etc :-S!

Thanks again

[themaninblack]

Nah, they see fit to steal from cars as well.

I'd hang 'em.

[BQC]

Maybe i'm too new to the Forum but there seems to be an explosion of thefts for petrol, phones, wallets etc in a fairly small area. We must get the police to patrol this area at night or at the very least, put some CCTV in place. I'm not feeling very safe & a bit depressed by it all ..

Can Mr Barber offer any assistance ? (I'm cc'ing the other threads - hope people don't mind)

[BQC]

Does anyone know if this has stopped yet ?

[snowman]

Unfortunately it doesn't appear to have stopped...bike drained again this morning :'(

Reported it again to the police (I have now my personal direct number as a repeated victim of crime!) but as usual I expect to receive a notification within a couple of days that the case has been closed and nothing will be done about it...

This is immensely frustrating.

[BQC]

Little f*ckers. (6)

[*Bob*]

Tedium.

I know it's not exactly a 'dream fix' (and somewhat inconvenient) but have you considered leaving a bare minimum of petrol in the tank for a while? (just splash-in what you need from a plastic can affair)

The second time mine got 'tapped', it just so happened to be nearly empty and - fingers crossed - hasn't happened since (nearly 4 months ago).

[MissSophie]

Oh snowman, so sorry - what a complete pain. When I reported my situation I had a really helpful policeman ask me that if it does happen again, to notify them immediately and try not to touch the bike; so they can at least take fingerprints. I appreciate that it is difficult and also time-consuming waiting for someone to turn up with a make up brush and some talc, but I also understand that they are getting reports of stolen petrol after the bike has gone to get fixed so it's difficult to take evidence.

Are you changing where you park it and putting a cover on it? I was going to paint a special message on my bike cover for these cowards to read...assuming they can read.

[snowman]

When I spoke to the police earlier today they told me that I can take the bike to their Forensic Centre in Camberwell but they wouldn't come to look at it at my house. The only downside is that its open only between 8am-9am Mon-Fri and this doesn't work out too well with my work commitments....and I would also need to touch the bike to put the petrol line back in & refill it to bring it to Camberwell!

I will try for a few weeks to park it on another road a bit further away and see if anything changes. Since last time I have also installed an alarm. Not enough clearly and just more money down the drain!

I have also started a thread on the Wanted section looking for some private space (a bit of garage or 'fenced' courtyard/garden) where I can park my scooter at night for a monthly rent but nothing so far.

Bob - the amount of petrol doesn't seem to make much of a difference, in the past they have come back even after getting away the previous time with ridiculous amounts of petrol.

[rlw_home]

I noticed a Jag on Goodrich road with the Petrol Cap up and open this morning.

[themaninblack]

That is very interesting indeed. Was it an XJ6 (X300 for those in the know) by any chance? Up until three weeks ago I lived on Dunstans Road (top half) and my Jaguar was hit on several occasions. A design flaw in the flap makes it very easy to force open. I am wondering if me moving has made them travel down to Goodrich to perform their crimes on a car they know they can hit without too much effort.

I feel for the owner because not only do they make off with potentially over ?100 of petrol but they steal the cap and break the striker too. Not to mention paintwork damage.

Sods.

[BQC]

I reckon whoever is doing this is actually driving in around in a car/van to carry out the act. You can't get far with Jerry cans full of fuel - they're too heavy. This could be happening as a little criminal business. To go to all the effort of getting up in the dead of night, every week. You'd want to steal enough to sell on to make to worth while.

Starts off with mopeds - gets confident with not being caught - goes on to stealing from cars ..

Nice little earner with the price of fuel these days.

[Philatlondon]

I had my Vespa on Dunstans Road drained on Sunday evening, so someone is still at it. ?25 to replace the fuel tap. It's a bit worrying, as I don't fancy having to repeat the cost and inconvenience.

[TJ]

Report it.........

[snowman]

Petrol gone again this morning...this time they managed to get away with only 50p worth of it as the tank was almost empty!...It is really beyond me why somebody would want to risk getting caught for such a small 'reward'.

Anyway, reported it as usual to the police.

[jimmy two times]

Christ I bet the Old Bill love filling out the paperwork on that crime of the century.

[Penguin68]

The concept of zero tolerance in policing work is one that has proved successful in New York - these petrol thefts though individually at times trivial have been mounting up, and frequently the damage caused to the bikes is out of proportion to the value of the petrol stolen. Additionally, if the police can devote any time to this, the pattern of thefts if properly reported may lead to arrests and conviction. The crimes do appear trivial and more of nuisance value, taken individually, but, as the length of this thread reveals, they are not isolated events.

And maybe if the 'Old Bill' do find the paperwork behind these thefts annoying, this might stimulate them more to do something about them. They certainly won't do anything if they don't know (because they aren't being reported) that they are happening.

[snowman]

Sums up my thoughts perfectly!

[ladywotlunches]

We're on Canonbie and my husband's scooter has been drained overnight too. Must have happened in the early hours as he closed the gate on his way in late last night and it was open this morning on his way to work (WAY too early for mr Postie). Shall be reporting it too, but as its in Lewisham they may find it difficult to show a pattern.

[JSy]

I had my scooter emptied on Canonbie Road last night - for the third time in as many months.

Am fed up with it.