Three motorcycle thefts at Medway City Estate in just one month

The police are appealing for witnesses after a series of vehicle thefts in businesses located along the same road.

In the past four weeks three motorbikes have been stolen from businesses on Sir Thomas Longley Road in the Medway City area of ​​Strood.

The most recent theft was on Tuesday when one was stolen in seconds from a car park around 7.45pm*.

The owner, who wished to remain anonymous, said he only bought it in recent weeks.

He lives in Bobbing and says the closure of M2 Junction 5 in Stockbury meant he was wasting too much time in traffic getting to and from work.

So he bought the bike for £4,000.

He took his test last Friday, insured the bike on Saturday, had it taxed on Sunday and drove it to work for the first time on Monday.

By the time he came to leave work on Tuesday, around 10 p.m., his bicycle was missing.

He said: “There’s nothing sadder than a man in a motorcycle helmet and leathers, standing in a parking lot alone without a motorcycle.”

CCTV shows the thief wearing a black hoodie, black jogging bottoms and white trainers as he walks towards the vehicle.

He broke the steering wheel lock and within moments was gone.

The owner called the police as soon as he noticed his bike missing at 9:58 p.m., then spent around 90 minutes on hold on three separate phone calls trying to reach 101.

Eventually he was able to report it through his messaging service.

He said, “If they had wanted to and it was behind a garage door, they would have gone past the garage door.”

After reporting this to the police, he contacted other businesses in the area to see if anyone had CCTV footage.

He discovered that a neighboring business had also had a motorbike stolen from their parking lot four weeks earlier – but this time it was during the day – directly outside their office window.

Matthew Smithers, who works as technical support at IPS International Ltd, said his colleague’s bike was stolen last month.

CCTV showed she was taken in just 22 seconds. The thief ran across the car park, broke the steering wheel lock and drove off with the £3.5,000 bike.

Matthew said the owner had only had it for two weeks and it was stolen the first day she even drove it to work.

He said: “We called the police but as it’s something that happens to them quite regularly it didn’t look like they were going to do much.

“The owner of the motorbike even found the name and social media profile of the person we believe did it, and she went to find them with the motorbike and gave it all to the police.

“But they said because the thief’s face was covered by CCTV, there’s no evidence it’s him.”

He added that two weeks later the thieves returned to IPS and attempted to steal another bike.

He continued: “Fortunately our GM saw them and came out and scared them off. But on the same day a motorbike was stolen from another business down the street so they had to try their luck elsewhere. “

It is understood that the theft in question occurred on the premises of a scaffolding company.

Regarding the latest incident, a police spokesperson said: “We are investigating a report of the theft of an orange and white KTM Duke 125 motorcycle.

“Officers are asking anyone with information to call the police on 01634 792209, quoting reference 18-1499. You can also call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 or complete the online form on their website. “

* The time on the CCTV is wrong – it was taken around 7:45 p.m.