Potential attempted car break in

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A-AvantGarde

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Fuming right now - I know they say bad luck come's in three's.

1. My brothers house got broken into on Wednesday this week, luckilly nothing was taken (other than an old mobile phone).

2. We went round to visit my brother this evening to have dinner with them. After the meal my sister-in-law was in the kitchen at the front of the house putting the kettle on - when she screamed someone's trying to break in to your car - she screamed at the guy and without any thought ran out of the house to confront the guy, followed by my brother & myself. My wife was with our daughter & my niece wondering what was going on.

The guy started to run off, then when we all shouted at him stopped in the middle of the street & shouted 'yeah what?' and then screamed 'F-off' at which point he got back on his bike and cycled off down the road. At this point we decided not to chase.

So this was 8.30 in the evening in a relatively quiet street in North London - it's actually a private no-through road with a barrier at on end so you only really come up there if you're visiting a house. She saw a guy on a bike, in a hoody peering through the window of my BMW (yeah I know) looking as though he was about to reach for something from his hoody (probably a screw-driver or something).

The scary bit is, the guy matched the description of a guy seen around their house at the time of the break in (two of the neighbours gave the same description!).

Called 999 and the Police came round pretty quickly (even though there was no sign of any damage to my car!).

Two plain clothes officers came over in an unmarked cop car (it was a Y Reg, won't mention the make, model or colour) but it was unusual and wouldn't even suspect it being an undercover car. It had blacked out windows at the rear and had wheel trims - just looked pretty regular. They asked for more of a description - think they have an idea of who it may be as there have been a spate of burglaries in the area but said they'd keep an eye out and make sure the overt guys are aware. They also said in future try to make sure you look out for any distinguishing features; scars, birth marks, ear-rings etc, thye also gave some general security advice...

So my bro & sister-in-law are worried that a third thing may happen. They are really stressed and are worried the guy might come back with some associates and either vandalise their property or just cause a nuisance. I've tried to re-assure them but understandably they're on edge. The police also warned them to be careful with their car keys (bro has an '09 X5 and sister in law has a B-Class).
 
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Mate really sorry to hear about this. Hope the scumbags get caught as they deserve to be behind bars :mad:
 
Mate really sorry to hear about this. Hope the scumbags get caught as they deserve to be behind bars :mad:

Cheers mate, that's exactly the problem - they wouldn't end up behind bars.

The cops that came out confirmed what most people think - that the courts are far too lenient. They said that they're working overtime with their covert work in this area to try to prevent crime - they believe that the rates are lower this month but it probably just shifts the problem to a neighbouring area until their overtime budget gets cut!
 
Fuming right now - I know they say bad luck come's in three's.

1. My brothers house got broken into on Wednesday this week, luckilly nothing was taken (other than an old mobile phone).

Dont be so sure nothing was taken. Some of these burglars are getting quite savvy now. They arent after your VCR anymore but your car keys and most importantly your ID.

Some old ID and a couple of old utility bills is enough to get credit over the counter in your name.

Get your brother to check his cheque books carefully. Count each check and its stub number for continuity. They take a single cheque and its stub (so you dont see its missing) from the middle of your cheque book and combined with some ID they've also taken they look up the sort code go to your branch and write a cheque for cash over the counter.

If there are any doubts, It may be worth his while signing up to experian and register for text alerts. This way, he'll get an alert as soon as someone trys to get any credit in his name.
 
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Dont be so sure nothing was taken. Some of these burglars are getting quite savvy now. They arent after your VCR anymore but your car keys and most importantly your ID.

Some old ID and a couple of old utility bills is enough to get credit over the counter in your name.

Get your brother to check his cheque books carefully. Count each check and its stub number for continuity. They take a single cheque and its stub (so you dont see its missing) from the middle of your cheque book and combined with some ID they've also taken they look up the sort code go to your branch and write a cheque for cash over the counter.

If there are any doubts, It may be worth his while signing up to experian and register for text alerts. This way, he'll get an alert as soon as someone trys to get any credit in his name.

Thanks Sp!ke - wow, didn't even think of that.

They did go through the bedrooms, emptying draws - they found empty watch boxes - luckily most of their valuables / jewelley is kept securely off-site. But you're right - we were told this a while back that they're not after audio/visual equipment etc- it's generally small stuff like watches, phones, cash & obviously car keys etc.

Will tell hime what you've just mentioned and get him to check their cheque books and whether his passport / any bills are missing. Good tip!
 
My father was burgled and we were astonished that all they took was his dining room table which was of little worth.

We couldnt understand it at all. :dk:

Turned out it was to throw us off the scent when the real target was pretty much what I mentioned above. The table was later found dumped in an alley. The thief managed to withdraw £2000 in cash from my fathers personal account with a single cheque and got a further £4000 in credit with various high street store cards.

Much more lucritive than pinching his television.
 

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