Barking Mat
Cuddler of hedgehogs.
- Messages
- 13,031
- Location
- France, Brittany.
Just read Farsides post about fairy thieves, reminded me...
Scroll back in time to early September, phonecall from father one morning fuming, some scum has stripped the doors, windscreen, bonnet, light clusters, seats, floor panels, glove box, dashboard etc etc etc from his beloved Citroen HY, which was sat in a barn, next to the house in the middle of the countryside.
The barn was not locked, but all the same.
I rented a flatbed trailer, and collected the van from my parents and stuck it in my barn, which is not accessible to all and sundry.
About a month after the theft, I went back to my parents dug through the clutter shed, and found 80 percent of what was nicked, from another HY we broke 15 years ago and luckily saved the bits.
On getting back I unloaded the spares and reattached the replacement bits to the sad grey van. As I did I noticed silly bits which had been pinched, which I hadn't previously noticed. Sunday afternoon, looked on le bon coin, like French Gumtree, and there were all, the missing bits for sale, with photos, and more bits I hadn't noticed had gone. A complete list of the stolen bits, how stupid must people be?
Figuring they might have spotted English plates in the garden, a French friend phoned up for me, did he have any other bits? Cylinder head? No just what was in the photos. His advertised location was 200 miles from us, and he wanted 500 euros! Turns out he'd let it all go for 200, and he didn't have the stuff, it was at his mates 15 miles from my parents. What a coincidence. If I sent him an email, he'd send me the address....
Fake email account, rendezvous following day at 18.15 at his mates. This gave me his address, no name.
My day off, worked the morning, and a 2pm I was at the gendarme's (police).
You should never make contact with thieves, you should leave this to us.... Turns out my elderly parents never actually declared the theft in person, no case. I will declare the theft now. No, you are going in the wrong department. 30 mins later I was at another gendarmerie, who were far more sympathetic and impressed. After half an hour I had all the paperwork, and the gendarm said 'tell my colleagues, if they do not deal with this to phone me, and I will come down and catch them'.
Back to first set of gendarmes, not impressed, they phoned their colleagues, and at 17.45 they said, go home, it will be dealt with.
My backup plan was in the carpark, four big blokes to 'help' me if the law wouldn't. We went and sat down the road to watch. Fifty meters down the road.
Ten minutes before rdv, shiny unmissable police car with two gendarme's in front of the house.
How subtle me thinks, the blokes not going to be stupid enough to go home to sell stolen goods with a police car and two gendarmes in front of his house?
He was, got to his house to be greeted by the law, five minutes later I was called to identify the bits, windscreen missing but all the rest was there.
The bloke was restoring a vw combi, my age, his mate had left the bits there, he knew nothing, I told him how stupid must you be to steal all these bits locally, and a month later, stick a list and photos of everything you've stolen on the internet. Felt good.
Police collected all the bits, and a few days ago I got a phonecall asking me to collect all the bits from the police station.
Nice result.
Scroll back in time to early September, phonecall from father one morning fuming, some scum has stripped the doors, windscreen, bonnet, light clusters, seats, floor panels, glove box, dashboard etc etc etc from his beloved Citroen HY, which was sat in a barn, next to the house in the middle of the countryside.
The barn was not locked, but all the same.
I rented a flatbed trailer, and collected the van from my parents and stuck it in my barn, which is not accessible to all and sundry.
About a month after the theft, I went back to my parents dug through the clutter shed, and found 80 percent of what was nicked, from another HY we broke 15 years ago and luckily saved the bits.
On getting back I unloaded the spares and reattached the replacement bits to the sad grey van. As I did I noticed silly bits which had been pinched, which I hadn't previously noticed. Sunday afternoon, looked on le bon coin, like French Gumtree, and there were all, the missing bits for sale, with photos, and more bits I hadn't noticed had gone. A complete list of the stolen bits, how stupid must people be?
Figuring they might have spotted English plates in the garden, a French friend phoned up for me, did he have any other bits? Cylinder head? No just what was in the photos. His advertised location was 200 miles from us, and he wanted 500 euros! Turns out he'd let it all go for 200, and he didn't have the stuff, it was at his mates 15 miles from my parents. What a coincidence. If I sent him an email, he'd send me the address....
Fake email account, rendezvous following day at 18.15 at his mates. This gave me his address, no name.
My day off, worked the morning, and a 2pm I was at the gendarme's (police).
You should never make contact with thieves, you should leave this to us.... Turns out my elderly parents never actually declared the theft in person, no case. I will declare the theft now. No, you are going in the wrong department. 30 mins later I was at another gendarmerie, who were far more sympathetic and impressed. After half an hour I had all the paperwork, and the gendarm said 'tell my colleagues, if they do not deal with this to phone me, and I will come down and catch them'.
Back to first set of gendarmes, not impressed, they phoned their colleagues, and at 17.45 they said, go home, it will be dealt with.
My backup plan was in the carpark, four big blokes to 'help' me if the law wouldn't. We went and sat down the road to watch. Fifty meters down the road.
Ten minutes before rdv, shiny unmissable police car with two gendarme's in front of the house.
How subtle me thinks, the blokes not going to be stupid enough to go home to sell stolen goods with a police car and two gendarmes in front of his house?
He was, got to his house to be greeted by the law, five minutes later I was called to identify the bits, windscreen missing but all the rest was there.
The bloke was restoring a vw combi, my age, his mate had left the bits there, he knew nothing, I told him how stupid must you be to steal all these bits locally, and a month later, stick a list and photos of everything you've stolen on the internet. Felt good.
Police collected all the bits, and a few days ago I got a phonecall asking me to collect all the bits from the police station.
Nice result.
