At about 9:30pm my daughter came downstairs to say she had been looking out of the window and had seen a chap try a car door over the road. He then crossed over and, she was fairly convinced, he tried another one on this side - both without success.
We rushed out and there was no sign of him as he had headed up towards the main road and disappeared in the gloom amongst all the other parked cars.
"Do you want to phone the police?"
We were uncertain... I didn't because it would have been up to my daughter as she was the one who witnessed the incident. She decided to go over the road to let her brother and sister-in-law know as it was their car door that had been "tried".
I stood by our front gate trying to decide which way the chap might have gone and then.........
...... I couldn't believe my eyes! Someone, fitting the description my daughter had given me, came toddling along back down the road on the other side from me. This time he wandered into a neighbour's property, up the drive and towards the side of a large black 4x4 vehicle. As he approached the passenger door the house security lights were triggered. He just stood there and slowly turned to face the light.. looked back at the car door then wandered back down the drive and off to continue his journey along the road.
Got'cha!! This time I had seen him so I belted straight indoors, grabbed the landline phone and called the police. I told them if they wanted to stand a chance of apprehending the chap they needed to get a move on. They informed me a car had been dispatched. (There had been 17 reported thefts from motor vehicles in the previous 24 hours so they were keen.....)
I gave a description of who and what I had seen and what had happened from the beginning once I knew the police were able to attend.
Once I put the phone down I went back out to see if I could spot the chap and then.......... I noticed my daughter-in-law and my daughter had come out and were further along the road on the other side from me.
Next I spotted the police car and my 6'3" son near by. The police had apprehended the chap... but my son had not waited around for someone to decide what to do or for the police to turn up. Instead he had walked along the road and spotted the would-be-thief wandering into yet another neighbour's drive.
My son followed him and asked what he was doing. There were various excuses given none of which made a lot of sense followed by a sudden decrease in his ability to understand English. The chap said he would go away and not cause more trouble. My son knew he wasn't visiting and that he didn't know the neighbour's name.
Next my son decided that the Stanley knife the chap was holding wasn't in the best place so removed it from the chap's hand without any opposition. Then the police arrived and took over.
The "suspect" told me he did not understand what I was saying when I addressed him and told him what I had seen him doing. The police had no qualms in searching him, accepting the knife that had been taken away and then driving off with him.
By 12:45am my daughter and I had given our statements. My son has yet to be asked as he went off to bed ready for work the following morning.
Apparently the chap admitted having an offensive weapon and having equipment which would enable entry into other people's property but denied theft.
He remains in custody I am told....... and we wait to hear what might happen next.
