Thieves in south London use angle grinder to steal Harley from private car park

POLICE IN south London have just released pictures and video from a bike theft in Surrey Quays which took place in February this year.

Detectives from Lewisham are appealing for information after thieves on scooters gained access to the private car park of the Copenhagen Court residential building on Pell Street at 1.15am on February 14 and used a portable angle grinder to steal a yellow Harley-Davidson said to be worth £30,000.

The CCTV footage (below) shows the pair arrive on a scooter. One gets off and uses the portable cutter to get through three chains, before the pair use the scooter to push the bike away.

Two accomplices on a second scooter kept the gates open by waiting for a resident to leave the car park.

No arrests have been made.

PC Mike White, from Lewisham CID, said: ‘The owner is obviously very upset to have his motorbike stolen.

‘We are keen to identify the males in the CCTV footage so we can speak to them about the incident. This is a very distinctive motorbike and I would ask anyone who has been offered such a bike to buy or who has seen one for sale to contact police.

‘We would also urge anyone who witnessed the incident to contact us.’             

PC White can be contacted on 07788 916864 or contact Lewisham Police via 101, or anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

This incident is just one in a growing number of bike thefts and increasing ‘moped-enabled’ crime taking place in the capital, with the police saying that bike theft is up 44% compared to 2012 and 2014.

Crimes in the city are known to turn violent as gangs on mopeds snatch phones from people on the street and use weapons to take bikes for crime, something which has led to riders in London forming a vigilante group to get some payback.