7:37 am, March 26, 2023
A used car dealership in Lancashire caught a man on CCTV stealing a plastic moulding worth hundreds of pounds from a Volkswagen.
The man came into Rishton Auto Care early last Sunday afternoon and wandered around, checking vehicles before reaching under the rear nearside wheel arch of a Tiguan then wrenching off the moulding and tucking it under his top.
The Lancashire Telegraph quoted a salesman, who would only give his name as Rash, as saying: ‘He walked through the shutter and I spoke to him. He said he’d just come in to have a look.
‘I asked if he wanted to look at anything in particular and he said no.
Rishton Auto Care’s premises. Image: Google Street View
‘I was with another customer and by the time I came out he was gone. We looked at the camera and he had taken a part off the car.’
The 14-plate five-door 2.0-litre TDI BlueMotion Tech R-Line car is on sale at the Rishton dealership for £12,995 and Rash said the plastic moulding from under the bumper cost more than £300.
‘He just took that. They’re really hard to get hold of. We had a look at some of the other cars but I think he targeted that,’ the salesman added.
The CCTV shows the man looking ahead first to check if he can be seen. He pops open the Tiguan’s boot then reaches under the wheel arch to remove the moulding, moving back under the raised boot while he stuffs the car part under his top.
The man then shuts the boot and moves off.
But if he thought the boot was concealing his criminal act, he was mistaken – because a wall-mounted CCTV camera right behind him was picking up his every move.
Bizarrely, he even seems to have noticed the camera a few seconds earlier, as he can be seen looking up at it while checking out another car.
A close-up of the man
Police are yet to be told of the theft, according to the Telegraph.
Pictures: Rishton Auto Care
