My things were stolen off my driveway

[Anordinarymum]

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.

[Nocutenamesleft]

@BeepBoopBop

I lived in Oostende. In Belgium for a while. The shops didn’t even lock their doors at night. Back in the 90’s.

[BeenAsFarAsMercyAndGrand]

@Kezzie200

Maybe the camera doesn't work but he wants people to think it does

I think this is pretty likely tbh.

[BeenAsFarAsMercyAndGrand]

You SHOULD be able to leave all kinds of things on your driveway without them being taken. But unfortunately, thieves exist.

Which is why most people don't leave their valuables on their driveway.

[YogaLite]

To be honest the police probably won't be interested, we had a bike stolen from the garage and because at that time the garage was unlocked, they were not interested at all. We couldn't even claim on insurance.

[FactsAndFigs]

I’d put it on your local fb group but I agree with others about your neighbour that would put my nose out.

I’ve had scrap ppl knock on door asking for stuff purposely left out front, they are not supposed to go onto property and just take.

Had a bike and rocking horse sat waiting to go for week. Thief’s round here don’t take what u giving away.

Ive few times woke up realised I left front door ajar overnight that doesn’t give right for others to come in so as for those who say about op leaving stuff out same goes.

[Kezzie200]

Maybe the camera doesn't work but he wants people to think it does

[Cherrysoup]

I think your neighbour is being a knob and I would send the police round to him. The crime is theft by finding.

[RampantIvy]

Blimey you should be able to leave things on your own driveway without worrying they may be taken

Yes you should, but IMO it is being disingenuous and naive to think it never happens or won't happen. I live in a low crime area, but local Facebook pages and Nextdoor are full of people complaining about thieving scroats who take garden furniture, pot plants, cars etc. Sadly, it happnes, and saying that it shouldn't happen won't stop them.

We went away for the weekend. I hid our garden chairs from view in the house (they had been in the conservatory), and we put the garden bench into the garage.

[Spinachtastegud]

Blimey you should be able to leave things on your own driveway without worrying they may be taken. How dare anyone think they can just help themselves! Where's the common decency of people fgs....

[ichifanny]

@MintyMabel

You haven’t done anything wrong OP apart from being too trusting or assuming that people aren’t all petty criminals

As someone else has said, would this be the case if she had left 1k of cash sitting in her drive?

Yes it’s still theft if it’s on your property

[BeepBoopBop]

@PaperMonster

It’s a poor do if you can’t leave stuff on your own driveway without someone stealing it. Or maybe we’ve just been fortunate. Here, if people have been getting rid of stuff, it’s usually signed as such. Neighbour is being a bit of a knob though.

Exactly.

We used to leave everything out on our front drive as it was convenient - kayaks, paddle boards, etc Never lost a thing.

Left my ancient Golf at the marina car park and some low life forced the door, popped the bonnet and stole the plastic engine cover WTAF

Now in rural France and don't even lock the house doors now, unless we are out all day. It's such a shame there are some disgusting, shameless people out there

[PaperMonster]

It’s a poor do if you can’t leave stuff on your own driveway without someone stealing it. Or maybe we’ve just been fortunate. Here, if people have been getting rid of stuff, it’s usually signed as such. Neighbour is being a bit of a knob though.

[MolyHolyGuacamole]

@OpalBerry

You'd have to be dodgy to think a pram with a blanket and wipes on it was up for grabs. Maybe they go to parks and grab prams while mums help their toddler on the swings

Yeah it's a thing. I saw CCTV footage of someone walking into a restaurant and grabbing a buggy right from the buggy park at the front and walking off with it. Buggies are expensive

[OpalBerry]

You'd have to be dodgy to think a pram with a blanket and wipes on it was up for grabs. Maybe they go to parks and grab prams while mums help their toddler on the swings

[proopher]

It's obviously not the OP's fault that her stuff was taken, but I cannot think of a single reason why I would deliberately leave stuff worth that amount of money in my front garden. I don't even leave my deck chair out there if I leave the house and I have never heard of any burglaries nearby!

[LuckyWookie]

You left stuff on your drive and went off for half an hour. I'm not surprised it went!
This. You can’t just leave £1k of stuff on your drive and wander off. I mean obviously it shouldn’t be stolen but it was stupid to leave it. Thieves are opportunist.

[aiwblam]

Didn’t ge see the number plate with his eyes? Surely no need to access footage.

What a shit society we live in.

[PixieDust28]

@NotImpossible

Wtf? Do people here really think it's reasonable to wander onto people's property and take stuff in the absence of a sign or some sort that makes it clear it's free?!

Apparently!

[MintyMabel]

That's not a comparable thing, I wouldn't leave £10, let alone a £1000, unsurprised on my drive but might leave a pushchair out when the children were smaller.

It is comparable. We’re not talking about a pushchair, we are talking about a large number of high value goods which she drove away and left unattended for half an hour.

If your pushchair was worth 1k and you’d leave it outside, you’d have to accept it might be nicked.

[Nocutenamesleft]

@AlternativePerspective

OP the only one to blame here is you.

You left £1k worth of stuff out on public display. Your neighbour wasn’t to know that the van wasn’t going to pick it up. Your neighbour isn’t responsible for it being there or it being taken. And if your neighbour can’t see the reg number on the CCTV then he’s not being difficult.

Stop blaming everyone else and accept that you were irresponsible.

I have to agree with this.

[cctvrec]

See if you can make a claim on your insurance, get your own CCTV (seriously, WHY doesn't everyone have CCTV nowadays?!) I got a Blink camera system for £79 thats run on a couple of batteries a year and all you need to do it screw it in with two screws!) and never take a single parcel in for that neighbour again.

Need to borrow a cup of sugar? They can kiss my arse.

[BonnyandPoppy]

If he had ring cameras installed and not paid the subscription then you can see what’s happening live but nothing is saved

[MandalaYogaTapestry]

@HercwasanEnemyofEducation

The value of the goods was over 1K

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

That's not a comparable thing, I wouldn't leave £10, let alone a £1000, unsurprised on my drive but might leave a pushchair out when the children were smaller.

[pumpkintree]

if you told the police he had CCTV they would have asked him for it.

[EnidSpyton]

I really do think many people believe that if it's left out, it's free to take.

My sister is moving at the moment and she couldn't get a dump slot for love nor money. Due to lack of space inside she had left everything she wanted to take to the dump on her drive ready for when she could get a slot. She was thrilled when she realised someone had taken all the stuff off her drive for her one afternoon!

Maybe it depends on the area where you live, but certainly, where I live, the attitude seems to be, if it's not in your house or nailed down, it's up for grabs. No signs needed.