Hampshire police under fire as 'parasitic' thieves raid homes and cars in Portsmouth street
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Homes and vehicles in Colville Road, Cosham, have been targeted by ‘brazen’ thieves who have pilfered cash and valuables in the dead of night.
The latest spate of crimes took place on Thursday evening, with thugs breaking into at least two cars to steal cash and bank cards, with others reported on social media across Drayton on Saturday.
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Hide AdHampshire police has since come under fire from angry victims and their neighbours who claim not enough is being done to track down the thieves.
Retired architect Alec Kasania said thieves snatched a purse inside his glove box containing £10 of loose change. However, he has not reported the incident to police.
The 67-year-old grandfather of one, who has lived in Colville Road for almost 31 years with his wife Ligia, has previously had his house broken into – once in 1991 and again in 2012.
He said: ‘Something needs to be done. I realise this is very difficult but it has to be stopped.
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Hide Ad‘The criminals doing this are totally unacceptable. They’re a parasitic existence that needs to be dealt with very severely - especially those who are repeat offenders.’
Ameena Rahman, 32, lives next door to Mr Kasania, with her husband, Kadir. Her Kia Picanto was also broken into, with thieves snatching her husband’s wallet.
Mrs Rahman, who works at Southampton’s Solent University, suspects thieves used a device that was able to unlock her vehicle, before using her husband’s bank cards at a petrol station and McDonald’s.
Mrs Rahman told police about this but claimed that, despite ‘multiple CCTV images’ of thieves using the cards, officers said they would ‘not investigate further’.
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Hide Ad‘I find this approach disgraceful and feel completely let down by the police,’ Mrs Rahman said. ‘The police's inaction has effectively sanctioned the thieves' actions and this crimewave will only escalate in our local area.
‘If these criminals aren't stopped then they will only carry on to target other residents in our area. Honest, hard working citizens should be protected by the police but their ambivalence seems to only be protecting criminals.’
Drayton and Farlington councillor Terry Norton said there had been a recent 'flurry’ of crimes across his ward which had been discussed on the area’s neighbourhood watch group on Facebook.
Speaking of the situation, Cllr Norton said: ‘We’re catching people in the act because more residents have installed CCTV. What’s more alarming is that this flurry could be something that’s happening across the board and we’re not aware.
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Hide AdHampshire police have urged anyone with information about the theft to report it on 101, quoting the reference 44190419647.
A police spokesman said: ‘At the moment we have no further lines of enquiry, but if we do have any further information we will investigate.
‘We would encourage people to continue to report all incidents to us so we can build up an evidential picture of the issues effecting a particular area and police activity can be targeted as appropriate.’