Shop owner’s nose broken as ‘vape thief’ lashes out
A newsagent was left with a bloodied and broken nose after being punched by a young man he says stole vapes from his shop.
Umesh Patel, from M+P News in Shepway, chased after the suspected thief before being attacked at around 11.30am on Thursday last week.
Mr Patel, who has owned the newsagent’s since 2011, says he was punched in the face and head five times after catching up with the youngster in Cambridge Crescent.
The 49-year-old claims he had hold of the suspected teenager and a girl he was with and threatened to ring police before he was struck in the nose, forehead and back of his head.
The suspect then unzipped a jacket he was wearing, slipped out of it and ran away.
Mr Patel said it was the third time in one month the young man had stolen vapes from his shop and he would only do it when his wife Nisha was alone at the counter. Mrs Patel rang her husband to tell him about the alleged theft before he ran back and spotted the suspect. He said: “I had his girlfriend by the jacket at first and he just ran off, but when I threatened to call the police he came back and I had him by the jacket as well. “I had one on each arm and when his girlfriend said they would give the vapes back I looked at her and that’s when he punched me. There was blood everywhere and he unzipped his jacket and ran off. His phone was still inside so I had evidence and they came and took that but I haven’t heard anything since.” The altercation, which started on a pathway, spilled over into a neighbouring garden, causing
damage to a fence and car.
The home owner, who didn’t want to be named, said: “There was blood all over my drive, up my cars and on my window. “I had to clean it up, pay for a new wing mirror, two of my fences are still broken, so I went round to the shop and asked for £100 to fix it.”
Mr Patel, who had £50,000 stolen from his home above the shop in 2018, says he’s dealing with thieving children on a daily basis. “It’s really frustrating and we’ve had no help from the police. When I was robbed it
took months to get sorted. “They’ve not been helpful at all and I don’t have much hope. “Children as young as 10 try to get me to sell them vapes and get angry when I say no.”
A police spokesman said: “Kent Police was called to a disturbance in Northumberland Court, Maidstone, where a shopkeeper was assaulted.
“An investigation is ongoing and officers have recovered CCTV from the store as well as doorbell camera footage from the area. No arrests have yet been made.”