Last week I was contacted by a number of local people concerned about a spate of car and van robberies across our community.
I've spoken to the Reigate and Coulsdon Safer Neighbourhood Teams who have told me that on 11th April Surrey Police received 19 reported incidents across Banstead, Tadworth, Tattenham Corner and Chipstead of vehicle interference/criminal damage.
All incidents were very similar in nature where the front driver/passenger window's were smashed and the handbrake released which then caused the vehicle to move from where it was parked and caused damage to further vehicles and/or property.
In some of these incidents, items within the vehicle were taken. These have been reported as stolen.
The Safer Neighbourhoods Team conducted extensive enquiries by speaking with all victims that had reported into police as well as visiting houses in the affected areas and trawling available CCTV.
From these trawls, a subject vehicle was identified as being involved. Enquiries have shown that this vehicle was stolen from the Coulsdon/Croydon area on the same night and has been used to then commit these offences. Pictures of the subjects show that they are wearing balaclavas and gloves making it hard for them to be formally identified. Currently there are no further lines of enquiry to investigate.
In the aftermath of these incidents, our local police will be doing the following:
- Targeted patrols of the areas at similar times of the offences to see if the criminals return
- Reigate and Coulsdon SNT will work together to intelligence share and look at any trends/patterns of these types of incidents
- ANPR work on the stolen vehicle to understand its ways in and out of Surrey to see if it can be targetted on its daily commute
All victims have been very understanding of the work completed and understand that sadly not every investigation leads to an identified suspect.
I am grateful to our wonderful police officers who have worked swiftly and efficiently to not only pursue all lines of enquiry, but also to be visible in our communities and be responsive to the victims during a stressful and distressing time.
If you think you may have any further information that could help to catch the perpetrators then please contact the Reigate and Banstead or Coulsdon Safer Neighbourhood Teams.
Photo by John Cameron on Unsplash
