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My things were stolen off my driveway

160 replies

Anordinarymum · 13/06/2021 06:20

One day when I was out some people came onto my private driveway and removed things which were clearly not left out for scrap people to take.
The items were at the top of my drive and of value. There was my grandson's pushchair which we had taken out of the car and put by the front door with a blanket and baby wipes and a cup. There were plastic boxes with lids containing kitchen electrical equipment , plates, pans and kitchen utensils and toys all neatly stacked ready to go into the garage. There was other stuff too and obviously not rubbish. Boxes of shoes and boots and two large items belonging to my son
My garage is full and the items were going in there as soon as I got rid of some furniture.

I had only been gone for 30 minutes and when I got back I noticed a boot on the path... and then I saw everything had been taken.
This means whoever did it had come across the path and onto private land.
If I ever leave anything out to be collected it is always placed next to the path and not on my driveway so it is obvious I do not want it, and the scrap people always knock on my door and ask.

My next door neighbour was burgled a couple of years ago when he went on holiday. They got in the house and took jewellery and money and things out of his garage.
We never heard a thing as the burglars got in through a window at the back.

He quickly had CCTV installed. He told me it was an expensive and state of the art system; his house and the road in front were all covered so anyone coming anywhere near would be caught on camera.

The day this happened to me he was in his office upstairs and saw the men arrive in a van and take my things. The van was parked facing his house.

When I got home I naturally knocked on his door and asked him if he had seen anything and he said yes he saw them taking my belongings.

I asked him if he could give me the number plate of the van from his CCTV and he said he could not access the footage.

I reported the theft to the police and they asked me if anyone had seen anything and I had to say my neighbour did but didn't see the number plate. No forensics as they did not leave anything behind and nobody could give the number plate so the crime could not be investigated.

I know my neighbour very well. We are good friends. I respect his decision not to help me but feel sad he has chosen not to. I have not fallen out with him, but feel disillusioned.

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TheQueef · 13/06/2021 06:26

Very unneighbourly.
Did he say why he couldnt/wouldn't?

In all it probably wouldn't change anything but it'd put my nose out of joint.

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Feather12 · 13/06/2021 06:28

That has happened to me and it is really infuriating. I don’t see how your neighbour’s CCTV will help though. It may show people on the road, but not going up,your drive. I also don’t see the police will be able to do much, especially for low value items such as pushchair/kitchen things.

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HercwasanEnemyofEducation · 13/06/2021 06:29

You left stuff on your drive and went off for half an hour. I'm not surprised it went! No one else knows your drive rules...

Perhaps he genuinely can't access the footage?

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Lemonteanomilk · 13/06/2021 06:30

Or was it in fact the neighbour who stole your stuff??? 😮

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growinggreyer · 13/06/2021 06:30

Did you tell the police that your neighbour has cctv covering the area? Because a PC could contact the company and get access to the recording even if your neighbour is unable to.

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Anordinarymum · 13/06/2021 06:32

@TheQueef

Very unneighbourly.
Did he say why he couldnt/wouldn't?

In all it probably wouldn't change anything but it'd put my nose out of joint.

He said he couldn't access the footage and would have to contact the CCTV company. I knew he just did not want to do it. We were thinking he did not want to get involved in case the thieves came back and did something to him or his property.
People don't want to get involved these days. I get that. They don't want trouble.
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Gladimnotcampinginthisweather · 13/06/2021 06:33

Or maybe your neighbour's cameras aren't 'state of the art' after all. 🤔

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DisgruntledPelican · 13/06/2021 06:33

Agree it’s odd of your neighbour to not help if he could (unless there’s a massive backstory) but unfortunately you can’t just leave stuff unsecured on your driveway and expect it to be safe. I’m sure there are plenty of times when nothing would happen, but it’s just common sense. I’m primed by living in a slightly dodgy area, but my parents live on a naice quiet cul de sac in a sleepy rural town and wouldn’t ever leave anything on the drive, or even in the most visible part of the garden really.

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Winkywonkydonkey · 13/06/2021 06:34

It sucks, but you left a load of things out on your driveway. Also random things that might have looked like you were having a clear out. I'm not surprised they went.

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Anordinarymum · 13/06/2021 06:34

@Feather12

That has happened to me and it is really infuriating. I don’t see how your neighbour’s CCTV will help though. It may show people on the road, but not going up,your drive. I also don’t see the police will be able to do much, especially for low value items such as pushchair/kitchen things.

Their van was parked at the bottom of my drive and facing his house so the number plate was visible to him.

The value of the goods was over 1K
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HercwasanEnemyofEducation · 13/06/2021 06:35

The value of the goods was over 1K

Would you leave 1k cash unsupervised on your drive for half an hour?

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Anordinarymum · 13/06/2021 06:35

@growinggreyer

Did you tell the police that your neighbour has cctv covering the area? Because a PC could contact the company and get access to the recording even if your neighbour is unable to.

I did tell the police but I also told them my neighbour does not want to get involved so I got a crime number and that was that
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itsgettingwierd · 13/06/2021 06:37

@Winkywonkydonkey

It sucks, but you left a load of things out on your driveway. Also random things that might have looked like you were having a clear out. I'm not surprised they went.

In what world does things on someone's private driveway mean it's a free for all?

They were on the OPs property.
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Crockof · 13/06/2021 06:38

Or maybe he can't access the footage...

Besides what good will come of it anyway ,the police won't want to know.

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TheQueef · 13/06/2021 06:38

It's so frustrating but there is little to be done.
It's cost you that £1000 but you will be extra secure from now so it'll save money over time.

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QforCucumber · 13/06/2021 06:39

Annoying your neighbour won't help but also have to agree with others, we don't leave anything in front of the house if we don't want it to disappear. We have access to the back garden via the side of the house through a gate, anything being left out goes behind that gate otherwise I'd expect it to go amiss

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AlternativePerspective · 13/06/2021 06:39

Well, as horrible as it is, it’s really a bit stupid to go out and leave a grand’s worth of stuff on public display on your driveway and to then be surprised when it’s not there when you get back.

lesson learned I think.

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Anordinarymum · 13/06/2021 06:43

@AlternativePerspective

Well, as horrible as it is, it’s really a bit stupid to go out and leave a grand’s worth of stuff on public display on your driveway and to then be surprised when it’s not there when you get back.

lesson learned I think.

Probably more than a grand actually. Boxes of Ugg boots and trainers and two items in particular I don't want to describe as I am looking on the facebook marketplace and gumtree to see if they come up for sale.
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Claphands · 13/06/2021 06:43

Sounds like your neighbour is ‘paying you back’ for not knowing his house was being burgled to me (not that it was your fault), you always run the risk of items being taken if you leave them out front, it depends where you live but in many areas it means that you don’t want them and they are there for the taking but in this case the buggy alone would be obvious it wasn’t put out to take.
Can you ask the neighbour again just for the reg number of the van? It’s unlikely in all honesty that this will go anywhere, and police won’t contact the cctv company for the footage for a theft of this nature, it’s on your neighbour to do the right thing.

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Toddlerteaplease · 13/06/2021 06:44

Maybe it's a dummy camera. You shouldn't have left valuables outside unattended.

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AlternativePerspective · 13/06/2021 06:44

They were on the OPs property. they were on public display in an area which was easily accessible, aside from which, a lot of people leave stuff out on their driveways if it’s for the taking.

If it was in a back garden behind a gate, in a car with an open window, in the front window etc then I would hope (although not necessarily expect) it to go missing, but left out on a driveway as if it’s there for the taking OP can hardly be surprised if someone then came and took it.

We left a vacuum cleaner and a pushchair out for the binmen a few years ago and by the morning they’d gone. Grin

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AlternativePerspective · 13/06/2021 06:45

It *not to go missing.

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AlternativePerspective · 13/06/2021 06:46

And how long were you hoping to keep all this stuff on your driveway until you had space for it in the garage?

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Anordinarymum · 13/06/2021 06:46

@Claphands

Sounds like your neighbour is ‘paying you back’ for not knowing his house was being burgled to me (not that it was your fault), you always run the risk of items being taken if you leave them out front, it depends where you live but in many areas it means that you don’t want them and they are there for the taking but in this case the buggy alone would be obvious it wasn’t put out to take.
Can you ask the neighbour again just for the reg number of the van? It’s unlikely in all honesty that this will go anywhere, and police won’t contact the cctv company for the footage for a theft of this nature, it’s on your neighbour to do the right thing.

No, not at all. They went on holiday and we did not know. He is not a vindictive man at all. On the contrary, he is kind and helpful. Just not on this occasion.
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MildredPuppy · 13/06/2021 06:47

When someone in our road had things stolen from their front drive, the police knocked door to door asking whether people had cctv or ring door bells.

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