White LDV van seen taking a bike

[dan b]

just seen two men in a white LDV/Luton van taking a bicycle at the top end of Bellenden Rd, Reg number RX08 EPC. The van is covered in graffiti as per photos attached. Reported to police, do keep an eye out for them.

(Title changed to be accurate - Admin)

[SpringTime]

Good spot, good picture and well done for reporting.

[Siduhe]

Thanks for this - I've seen this van driving around the area before several times (not today) - is there a crime number that we could use if we do see it again?

[dan b]

Hi, yes, I have PM'd you

[malumbu]

chuffin brillant, thanks so much, I'm a pretty liberal person but steeling bikes is pretty pooey.

[Penguin68]

Although the OP reported the men as 'taking' a bicycle and loading it into van, it would be helpful to have confirmed that the bicycle was in fact actually stolen - unless the van was also stolen it is pretty conspicuous and the thieves must be pretty brazen to be using it in theft.

[Blah Blah]

The vehicle is not stolen and the plates match the make and colour of the van. They could just be junk and scrap metal dealers as opposed to thieves, so clarification is needed.

[alice]

and everyone was getting soooo excited.

[malumbu]

I lost my key to my bike lock once. It was chained to a lamp post very close to the (old) New Scotland Yard. I hired a bolt cropper and removed it. Nobody batted an eyelid. On the belief that the activity was genuinely suspicious I am grateful to anyone reporting this; worst case is that it is totally innocent. If it was a legitimate removal of a dumped bike or one on private land then those taking it would be in some sort of livery.

Vehicles going up and down the road looking for scrap and junk are usually open caged trucks.

Of course normally I'd be defending those accused by the twitching curtains brigade.

[DulwichFox]

The vehicle is Taxed and MOT'd till September 2021.

I cannot believe anyone would drive around in such a vehicle attracting attention

to themselves if they were on the Rob.

O.P. needs to change the title / Subject of this thread. (White LDV van stealing bikes) ???

How many Bikes ?? Stealing ??

DulwichFox.

[tomskip]

Hopefully the police will update the OP with the outcome of their investigations and the OP will update ED Forum in return.

[dan b]

Yes, I'll update if and when the police update me. In the meantime, to assuage the concerns of those generously offering the benefit of doubt above - the van pulled up, the driver stayed inside while the passenger opened the back up and then loaded a new-ish and reasonably expensive-looking bike into it which had been fixed to a lamp-post. The man pictured was wearing a cap and face mask and covered his face from me when he saw me filming. I could not see whether he cut the lock or had a key, so I can't confirm definitively that it was stolen as requested above. But the fact pattern strongly suggests so. Not clear why the possibility of them being scrap metal dealers and/or whether the van is stolen (unsure how you checked this?) would have any bearing on this.

[Blah Blah]

Because you were not clear if the bike was actually stolen. You didn't see them cut or pick a lock, so the guy loading it could have had a key and been collecting it for someone.

I think until you hear from Police as to whether a theft actually did take place (an expensive bike would be reported as stolen if it indeed was), it is premature to post as though a theft had taken place and identify the vehicle you believe was engaged in a theft.

Given that you can not confirm the bike was indeed stolen, I suggest you amend the title of this thread to reflect that, because right now you are potentially libeling the driver and his passenger. Your impression does not constitute fact, until someone definitely reports that bicycle as stolen. To illustrate that, you believe you saw one bicycle being stolen, and yet you use plural in your title. See the problem?

[Dogkennelhillbilly]

good grief

[jimbo1964]

Yes definitely innocent and not suspicious in any way. I expect they work for a charity and doing up old bikes for the NHS or orphans. I expect that probably people leave them to pick up chained to lamp posts. FFS. Good post.

[Peckham Park]

It?s more criminal that he?s wearing dirty grey jogging bottoms - ffs where?s his sense of sartorial elegance!!!

[DulwichFox]

The Original Poster quoted above.

"The man pictured was wearing a cap and face mask and covered his face"

Wearing a Mask ?

That narrows it down.

[jimbo1964]

Let's see if the old bill can be arsed to investigate. If that bike has been stolen and the theft is reported to the police hopefully someone will join up the dots.

[Penguin68]

Yes definitely innocent and not suspicious in any way. I expect they work for a charity and doing up old bikes for the NHS or orphans. I expect that probably people leave them to pick up chained to lamp posts. FFS. Good post.

The actions reported were certainly, on the face of it, suspicious, and recording details and even sharing them here (and certainly informing the police) was eminently sensible. But the van used, apparently not stolen, is very identifiable which makes its use in crime, at the very least, curious. Hence my initial cautionary note, supported by others who (unlike me) had bothered to check the van's status.

Perhaps because we are rarely exposed (in e.g. the news etc.) to good actions (because they are, generally, boring) but have a high exposure to bad we tend naturally to think the worst. Sometimes it's helpful to temper those thoughts, if remaining wary.

[Siduhe]

I don't want to get into the details but the reason I recognised the van and asked for the crime number is that a neighbour reported it to 111 a while back for behaviour that went beyond suspicious. No idea if it is the same people as dan saw but there may be a pattern here.

[jimmah]

Hi Dan, If you know what the bike looked like then it might be worth leaving a note on the lamppost just in case it was stolen and the owner will know there were witnesses and a report made.

[Jules-and-Boo]

what exactly was suspicious enough to call the police and accuse him of theft online?

So now we're all going to look out for this van and assume they're up to no good. Need a bit more info before I start on that....