Audi stolen, found by police ... then re-stolen
(...from police’s own car pound!)
To have your car stolen by armed thugs storming into your bedroom in the middle of the night is enough of an ordeal.
For one couple, however, insult was added to injury when their £45,000 Audi was found by police but then taken a second time by the same gang – all within one day.
The upmarket vehicle had been outside the home of Phil Chambers, 30, and his fiancée Charlotte Gill, 28, when they were woken after midnight by two robbers demanding the keys at knifepoint. Terrified, the businessman handed them over and the thieves sped away in the grey Audi rS3.
The couple alerted police and were delighted when officers called at breakfast time to say the car had been abandoned in Coventry, 30 miles from their home in Lutterworth, Leicestershire.
It had run out of petrol and was taken to a supposedly secure compound in Coventry for forensic examination.
However, this was far from the end of the story. That evening, a chief inspector rang to say that the same brazen gang had smashed down the gates to take the Audi – again.
Although it was a small comfort, the West Midlands force did apologise. ‘He was obviously embarrassed and very apologetic,’ said Mr Chambers.
‘I told him “This has turned into a bloody joke hasn’t it?” The poor bloke didn’t know what to say.
‘Basically these blaggers had gone to the recovery yard and nicked my car at the second attempt from under police noses. To add insult to injury, there were Christmas presents in the boot which they nicked as well.’
The robbers had taken petrol with them when they ram-raided the depot with a Nissan Micra and so were able to drive off with the Audi for a second time on December 19.
‘ I’m furious but at least we weren’t stabbed by these maniacs,’ said Mr Chambers.
‘We were fast asleep in bed when the two men burst into our bedroom. It was like something out of a nightmare. ‘They were yelling “Where are the keys?” and shouted they would “****ing stab us” if I didn’t hurry.
‘Charlotte was cowering in bed holding our dog Snoopy and we were in no doubt they would have used the knife.’
Miss Gill added: ‘I’ve never been so scared in my life.’
Yesterday West Midlands Police confirmed they are hunting the robbers and the couple’s Audi. The model is a target for thieves because of its 0-62mph time of just over four seconds and top speed of 155mph.
Figures from the National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service in 2016 revealed that Britain’s most stolen car was the Audi S3, a lower powered version of the couple’s vehicle.
Police forces have previously warned that car thieves have been known to follow drivers behind the wheel of high-value vehicles, such as the rS3, before breaking into their home later for the keys.