Car thief needed ride into town

Car thief needed ride into town

The 82-year-old’s blue Peugeot 206 was taken from near La Maison Gourmande café and bakery on Bagatelle Parade at about 7am on Wednesday. The keys had been left in the ignition but workers say the pensioner was in the café for less than 20 minutes.

Eight hours later, a parking control officer found the vehicle parked on a yellow line in Simon Place, just off St Saviour’s Road.

The owner of the car said his cleaner passed through Simon Place at about 8am and saw a car she thought was his parked on a yellow line. ‘It looks like they have just taken it to town. Perhaps they were a bit tired,’ the man said.

‘It didn’t come as a shock. I am an old person but I take everything in my stride. The police asked why I left my keys in the ignition but I have been driving for 65 years and I have always done that.

‘If they need the car, they can have it. It doesn’t bother me, I’m not precious about cars. What bothers me was if the person had an accident or hit someone and was not insured.’

A States police spokeswoman said the vehicle was now being looked at by crime scene investigators but the force believe the offender was an ‘opportunistic thief’ who had come across the car and tried their luck in an effort to get to town.

Police inquiries are ongoing and no-one has been arrested.

So far this year there have been 13 reports of vehicles being ‘taken and driven away’. The force spokeswoman said that was a mixture of cars and motorcycles and, in most cases, vehicles are recovered.

She added that some reports turn out to be cars that have been taken by people known to the owner without their permission.

In 2016 there were 29 reports of the same offence, 27 in 2017 and 25 in 2018.

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