Islanders have expressed their concern about a recent spate of vehicle break-ins and thefts up and down the East coast of the Island, with victims issuing a warning to others to ensure cars are locked and valuables are removed.
During the early hours of Monday morning 2 people were caught on CCTV entering a vehicle on Carter Street in Sandown, near to the junction with Avenue Road. Earlier in the night several vehicles were also targeted in a variety of streets in Shanklin including Dracaena Gardens and Duncroft Gardens, although it remains unclear if the incidents are connected to one another.
Island Echo readers have been in touch throughout the week to report the theft of laptops, iPads and iPods from vehicles, some of which were unfortunately unlocked. Those who have fallen victim to the thefts have taken to social media to warn Islanders to double check that cars and vans are locked at night and that any valuable possessions are removed even if they are out of sight.
Last night (Wednesday) 2 males were seen entering a car on Lower Furlongs in Brading, but thankfully the duo were disturbed resulting in them fleeing from the scene empty handed. Island Echo understands 1 male was arrested on suspicion of being involved in the incident and has been questioned by Police today.
It was only last week that Chessell Woodyard in the West Wight was targeted by thieves and on Tuesday morning the popular Cameo of Cowes shop fell victim to a burglary.
Mark Lee, Managing Director at Lifeline Alarm Systems Ltd, says:
“Both Personal and Business security is scoring high on most people’s agenda now. We have to accept that the world is a changing place and that includes the island.
“We encourage everyone to take security seriously, deter, detect and intervene is our mantra. Deter, by making the property unattractive to crime, this might include all sorts of measures, some even at little or no cost. Then detect, if the deterrent is ignored, the detection methods should alert, create uncomfortable environments for intruders. Finally intervention, all the detection in the world is useless unless it is acted upon. That could mean alerting consumers, security companies, monitoring stations and the police. Lifeline specialise in this aspect of security”.
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