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news
Angle grinder theft via Ashleigh Carrol on TwitterAngle-grinder cargo bike thieves caught on camera
Thieves who used a portable angle grinder to cut through a lock and steal an Urban Arrow cargo bike in south east London were caught on camera, with video showing one of them riding away on it.
Footage posted by Twitter user Ashleigh Carrol on Wednesday evening showed the criminals making short work of gainincuttting the lock of the cargo bike, parked next tio a Bikehangar in East Dulwich, which had a Lime hire e-bike propped up next to it, with one of them then riding away on the Urban Arrow Cargo Bike.
Addressing her tweet to the Metropolitan Police, she wrote: “Here is a video of two men stealing a bike in East Dulwich, just before 5.30pm today.
“It happened on Crawthew Grove. Another lady was on the phone to you whilst I filmed them but I had to go before you arrived. Let me know if I can help in any other way.”
While the original tweet and accompanying footage has been deleted from Twitter, police confirmed they had received the footage, which was also saved and uploaded to Twitter by road.cc reader Freedom-2017.
Good evening Ashleigh,
Thank you for making us aware of this. We have located the original call and have sent this footage to the relevant department.
Many thanks.
— Met Contact Centre (@MetCC) February 22, 2023
The Video Tweet was later Deleted, but, I saved it, here is the video. pic.twitter.com/F4uJspqXQj
— Freedom-2017 (@Cycle2Freedom) February 24, 2023
While initially it appeared that the thieves forced open the Bikehangar to steal the bike, Cyclehoop – the London-based company that makes the storage units – got in touch with us to clarify the situation, saying that wasn’t the case.
“The Bike in question was not inside the Bikehangar, and the thieves cut through the lock as opposed to the structure,” the company told us.
“The Bikehangar has been inspected by our maintenance team and has some minor cosmetic damage, but other than that, it is secure and all bikes inside the structure are fine,” Bikehoop added.
The episode prompted a discussion on the social network of how seriously the force takes the issue of cycle crime, with one Labour councillor highlighting his own experience.
Retweeting the post, Richard Leeming, who represents Dulwich Village on Southwark Council, wrote: “I had two electric cargo bikes stolen last year. Both crimes recorded in hi-def CCTV.”
But he said that police “have taken no action in either case, despite saying they recognise the alleged perpetrator in the second case. They haven’t even questioned the man. This is condoning crime,” he added.
I had two electric cargo bikes stolen last year. Both crimes recorded in hi-def CCTV. @metpoliceuk have taken no action in either case, despite saying they recognise the alleged perpetrator in the second case. They haven't even questioned the man. This is condoning crime. https://t.co/H5bWMGeJnZ
— Richard Leeming (@RM_Leeming) February 23, 2023
Other Twitter users said that the theft underlined the need for secure storage for cargo bikes, which have become increasingly popular among young families in recent years – something that, unfortunately, also makes them attractive to thieves, and we have previously written about thefts of such cycles a number of times.
> London family with autistic child plead for return of stolen cargo bike
This is why we need more secure storage for E-Bikes and E-Cargo bikes. Gutted for whose Urban Arrow bike was stolen here in broad daylight 😣 https://t.co/xSyjXIHowU
— Karim Dia Toubajie (@karimtoubajie) February 22, 2023
This latest theft also highlights something we’ve seen in a number of videos shot by members of the public, namely the use by bike thieves of portable angle grinders to cut through locks, often fully aware that they are being filmed – but continuing to go about their criminal activity regardless of that, although one thief was thwarted while doing so last year in Herne Hill, a mile or so away from where the latest incident happened.
> “Sparks flying in broad daylight”: Thief attempts to steal Labour MP’s bike using angle grinder
Inevitably, some questioned why the Twitter user who posted the original footage chose to film the theft rather than attempt to intervene – criticism that was behind her decision to delete the tweet – and which led one person to state the very obvious reason why it was better to gather evidence from the police than try to physically stop the thieves.
That angle grinder they’re using works on flesh and bone as well you know.
— paul morgan (@pauldmorgan) February 23, 2023
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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23 comments
The culture we live in - people will just film something rather than intevening. Obviously, self-presevation is important but one would hope the person posted this clip called the police BEFORE starting to film it.
The police force is overwhelmed and underfunded. Bike theft is pretty much at the. bottom of their priorities. Invest in decent locks if you need to park in unsafe areas, use airtags/GPS trackers and have a decent insurance policy!
If you actually read the article, the lady undertaking the filming said that another woman phoned the police while she filmed the incident, so any duplication would have been pointless. Regarding intervention, you can see from the clip that these are two sizable men carrying a cutting power tool and most likely, I'm sorry to say (I know because this is very much my local area), other weapons as well. I don't think anyone would recommend that a single woman should attempt to intervene with people like this, in fact I think she's rather brave to have stayed and filmed it given that she was at risk of retaliation if they had clocked what she was doing. I'm a male, 6 foot tall, 13 stone ex-rugby player and I am certainly not averse to intervening in order to prevent crimes, and I wouldn't try to tackle those two unless it was a question of protecting a human being; I'm sorry for those who lost their property but I'm sure they wouldn't want others to risk their lives in order to protect it. I love my bikes but I would rather let all of them go than have anyone be injured or worse to save them being stolen.
Two blokes, angle grinder, who knows what other weapon. I think that is in the run hide tell category.
As an aside, I hefted a butternut squash at the w/e thinking it would do a bit of damage to someone whilst being a legitimate item to be carrying !
We have located the original call and have sent this footage to the relevant department
...so they can get it straight into the bin, and it's less traceable
There was a fantastic turquoise Tern GSDlocked up in Reading town centre today, dlocked and chained. I do similar when on the Ultimate Commuter for there.
I'm thinking similar thinking.
Four cuts. Up to a minute per cut if quality locks. Apart from the time, that's a lot of cutting quite resistant material, can the battery do that. They probably aren't carrying a spare. There were easier steals out there.
And a Marin Rift Zone with the kryptonite mini faggadabadit. It looked like a nice bike, but when I saw the lock I knew it was a nice bike. I'm going to get one of those minis.
I would say at a guess, using a 4 aH battery, an angle grinder would quite easily run for 15 minutes or more so sadly even using multiple locks won't foil a determined thief , perhaps they should require a license to use rather like a firearm! 🤔
Here's hoping they forgot to charge it fully.
I've got the Hiplok D1000. I saw a recent video showing it needing two cuts to get one off a bike, and each cut getting running down two batteries and using two blades.
Isn't the Hiplok D1000 the £300 lock?
£250 full price according to their website. Easy enough to get it a bit cheaper though - looks like Hiplok offer 10% off if you subscribe to their emails; Cycling UK members get 20% off.
Cheaper than a new bike, and also cheaper than the excess on my insurance.
As OYB said, £250, though I got it considerably cheaper on the Kickstarter. The other downside is it is pretty heavy.
kryptonite faggadabadit's are very good by traditional standards, but are unfortunately easy prey for a fully charged anglegrinder. It doesnt offer much beyond other good locks these days. You need one of the new 'anglegrinderproof' diamond locks.
Also consider what you're locking to. Is it an anchor or really more of a stand?
Secure / convenient / cheap (choose two) isn't just a consideration for locks!
Looks like those two have at least two more accomplices up at the junction in the background keeping lookout. Lady filming did well to do so, and was wise to stay out of it unfortunately.
This is a couple of streets away from me and this neighbourhood is cargo bike central, there's been a huge rise in their popularity snce the pandemic. I have worried for the number of very nice machines I see chained up on the street; the housing stock around here is almost all Victorian terraces, so very few houses have garages. Nearly all the streets are resident-only parking at around £130 a year, perhaps it's time those who don't want a car are allowed to pay the same and put their own (much smaller than a car) secure shelter on the road.
I keep my cargo bikes in a garage. Though I do have friends whose garages have been broken into. UA and most cargo bikes come with a wheel lock (dutch lock) and they are quite tricky to get off with an angle grinder. I wonder if this bike had its wheel lock on? It was ridden away quite quickly. The wheel lock jams the back wheel. I really feel for the victim. You can see, by the cover on the bike, that it is used to transport children.
There is zero chance I would lock up a valuable bike outside; I keep a beater bike specifically for local shopping trips that I will leave locked up while I shop, but that's it.
I'm the same, but harder to keep something that size inside.
Catch 22 though. A cargo bike set up for kiddy transport is not really replaceable with a ratbike or beater...
The police just don't care.
Years ago whilst cycling round Shepherds Bush green / one way system I stopped at the lights.
In the lane next to me were two guys on a L plated moped - one with an angle grinder on a belt over his shoulder - both wearing balaclavas.
In the lane next to them was a Met police car - with two occupants who unlike everyone at the lights apparently couldn't see the angle grinder, illegal pillion passenger or the fact they were going equipped.
The police just don't care...about anything to do with cyclists or cycles
Both crimes recorded in hi-def CCTV. @metpoliceuk have taken no action in either case, despite saying they recognise the alleged perpetrator in the second case. They haven't even questioned the man. This is condoning crime
It is difficult, in Lancashire at least, to fail to despise the police. I have been lucky enough, so far, that I have only had police dealings over ignored traffic offences, but I imagine they're adept at ignoring everything else as well- you all know it took them 3 weeks to find a body in the river less than a mile downstream from where she fell in. I have been hit twice but not KSI'd- I know what would happen if I was: a quick routine 'our thoughts are with the family of the deceased...' and then sod all. Offenders' vehicle of choice, Audi BG67 YVC is running around Garstang all the time with no MOT since 17.1.23, a failed MOT of 27.1.23 for a major braking defect- this explains why it has been SORN-ed. It was reported 2 weeks ago, and has been filmed just about every day since then on the building site 1/2 a mile from the police station which is passed by numerous police vehicles every day, scooting around looking busy. Police action clearly nil.
Police don't care. My friend had his TERN GSD stolen in London. It had a GPS tracker. So he tracked it to a house not far from where he lived. He told the police. The police did attend. They knocked on the door where the GPS tracker was showing as active. The police asked if there was a stolen bike on the property. The occupant replied 'no' and the Police said 'OK'. The next day my friend followed the tracker again and found it - but not the bike - in a bush in a park. Apparently the police can't / won't force entry. This is all depressingly true.