Moped gang madness
Caught holding up rush-hour traffic, the brazen bikers trying to steal BBC Boat Race camera in broad daylight
THIS is the moment a moped gang stopped rush-hour traffic as they attempted to steal a BBC camera set up to broadcast today’s Boat Race.
Motorists and passers-by watched in disbelief as the masked men arrived on three bikes for the brazen raid on Putney Bridge in south-west London.
While one used his moped to hold up traffic, others armed with an angle grinder tried to cut the camera down.
However, they left empty-handed after being confronted by an off-duty policeman just after 5pm on Thursday.
The incident, which was captured on a mobile phone, lasted under a minute.
Less than an hour later another camera, set up on a scaffolding platform in nearby Barnes, was stolen by men on mopeds – believed to be the same gang – after they outnumbered BBC security staff.
The BBC said the theft is not expected to hinder coverage of the annual Boat Race between crews from Oxford and Cambridge universities. Held on the Thames from Putney to Mortlake, it is broadcast live by the Corporation.
Dozens of people called the Metropolitan Police to report the incident at Putney, but the thieves had left before other officers arrived. One witness, who asked not to be named, said he had initially feared the incident was another terror attack.
The 41-year-old said: ‘There were three scooters, with two people on each.
‘One blocked a bus and acted as a lookout while the other two went to the side of the bridge. I thought, “What on Earth are they doing?” I thought that it was going to be another attack.’
The witness added that when they escaped, one member of the gang carried the angle grinder in plain sight as he rode pillion. ‘I was worried they’d chop my hand off or something when they saw the camera,’ he said.
Commenting on the Barnes theft, a BBC spokesman said: ‘On this occasion, staff and security were outnumbered by the thieves who stole a camera. Nobody was hurt in this incident.’
Scotland Yard said the incidents are believed to be linked, adding that no arrests had been made.
The BBC will provide coverage of both the women’s and men’s race from 3.50pm today.