Moped thugs prowling with 18in machete
THIS is the shocking moment a pair of thugs on a stolen moped – one armed with an 18in machete – terrified residents of an estate.
The two men caused chaos as they prowled around before a confrontation with another man outside a row of shops on Monday.
At one point the pillion passenger leapt off the bike, which had had its number plate ripped off, and ran towards a group of people while wielding the massive blade.
One witness, who took photographs of the incident in Harold Hill, Romford, East London, said the men appeared just before a community meeting with police regarding gang crime in the area.
He added: ‘I looked out my window and I saw a young man at a bus stop with loads of school children.
‘He saw these two guys on a moped with a machete and he ran towards them without hesitation and pulled out a kitchen knife from his pocket. It was obvious there was a conflict between them.
‘It went on for about five to ten minutes and they didn’t seem to be both- ered by the fact that it was broad daylight. The guys on the moped were driving in circles around him, the people standing around looked really shocked.’
A police spokesman said officers, who later found that two vehicles had been damaged, are working to trace the culprits.
The terrifying confrontation is the latest to highlight the moped crime epidemic sweeping the country. Police chiefs fear teenagers are stealing mopeds – some throwing acid in the rider’s face – before committing dozens of crimes for the ‘thrill’. In the majority of cases, victims have their phones snatched from their hands.
However, riders have also been ambushed at traffic lights for their motorbikes. On Monday, two young men riding a powerful Triumph motorbike pulled alongside an elderly man riding a Vespa in Penge, southeast London, and attempted to push him off. But bystanders joined the struggle, forcing the balaclava- clad pillion passenger to give up. The victim was left with a face injury.