A COUPLE has been left devastated after brazen thieves broke into their car and stole cash and multiple credit cards – before going on a £200 spending spree.
Mark Johnson and partner Helen Porter noticed yesterday morning that their car had been tampered with, as Mark quickly noticed his wallet was missing.
Mark, 31, had returned home the previous day and had inadvertently left the car unlocked, leaving his wallet shut inside in the process.
In the time between then and him dropping Helen, 32, off at work the next morning, thieves had struck and were already out spending civil servant Mark’s hard-earned cash.
The devastated couple from Walton, Liverpool claim they drove to their local garage, where they were informed that suspected thieves had attempted to purchase items using an American Express card.
Whilst the purchase had failed on the card, Mark proceeded to the next local garage, who informed him that the suspected thieves had also been there.
However this time, the purchase had been successful, with the alleged culprits purchasing scratch cards and cigarettes.
Mark later received a notification from his bank that his card had been declined for a further purchase as the alleged thieves continued their spending spree.
To Mark’s luck though, his neighbours had managed to catch CCTV of the theft, meaning he could go further in his search for the thieves.
Footage from the CCTV camera shows a dark empty street with a line of parked cars on each side of the road.
A person on a bike can be seen circling around the cars, appearing to look inside each to check if they are locked.
Their accomplice can be seen on the other side of the road, peering into car windows.
The cyclist appears to be wearing a pair of grey jeans, a white t-shirt and a black hooded jumper.
Meanwhile, the culprit on-foot appears to be wearing jeans, a white t-shirt, a checked overshirt and a black beanie.
The culprits can be seen walking further down the street and past Mark’s blue car.
The clip then shows the pair returning to the car, with the pedestrian opening the driver side door of Mark’s vehicle, with the interior lights flashing on as he rummages around.
The cyclist can be seen watching from outside the car as moments later, the man steps out and goes round to check the boot.
However, it appears that he cannot open the boot and the pair then flee.
Taking to social media later that morning, Mark pleaded for any witnesses to speak out, writing: “Had my wallet stolen from my car last night on Morval Crescent, off Bedford Road, Walton.
“They’ve spent nearly £200 on three separate cards and took the cash I had in there.
“Nothing was on display, it was in the central console, so they’ve had a good look.
“I’ve been to the two garages that they’ve used my cards at and they’ve given me the description of a small blonde woman and two men.
“Unfortunately, our Ring doorbell hasn’t picked anything up. Thankfully, my next door neighbour’s CCTV has picked this video up.
“If anyone has managed to pick something up from last night or finds a discarded wallet, please let me know.”
The post received dozens of likes and comments as many were quick to come to Mark’s aid, with some even writing that they recognised the pair to be well-known thieves.
One person wrote: “I was at the shell on Scotland Road about 2am, small blonde in pink and two lads – one with a dog – were in there, if it’s connected.”
Another said: “How mad’s that? He got in the car quicker than he got out of it.”
A third commented: “Scumbags, Mark. I hope they get caught and hope you’re okay.”
A fourth added: “Hope the rats are caught.”
Speaking to Mark today, he said: “On the Sunday, I’d been refereeing at a local football tournament from 9am until 4pm.
“My brother wasn’t able to look after my dog so before I left, I’d asked if my next door neighbour could, to which she said yes.
“On the way home, I’d picked up a bottle of prosecco for her as a thank you.
“The boot opens and closes with a key fob, so when I’d taken the prosecco out of the boot I must have pressed the lock key before the boot was fully closed, therefore the car hasn’t locked properly overnight.
“I don’t normally leave my personal belongings in the car but left my wallet containing £50 in notes and also a money bag with £80 full of £2 and £1 coins, that I’d been given for refereeing, inside the central console, under the arm rest of the car – not on display.
“My girlfriend wakes up for work at 4:30am as her shift starts at 6am and I usually give her a lift.
“She’d woken me up to say that I’d dropped my wallet somewhere and the three contactless cards had been used.
“One of them, thankfully had no money on it, as it’s an account we put holiday spends on but the other two had been declined after initial use at Esso and also at Go Local.
“They’d already spent around £200, whilst my girlfriend and myself cancelled all our cards as quickly as we could.
“As I was taking my girlfriend to work, I noticed a couple of loose pound coins in the driver’s side footwell as well.
“That’s when I knew they’d stolen my wallet and cash from out of the car.”
Mark went on to explain where his hunt for the thieves led him.
He said: “I visited the Go Local garage and was told by the staff member that he suspected that these people were thieves as they were highly unlikely to have an American Express card.
“He also had receipts for what they had purchased and where the final transaction was unsuccessful printed out and stapled together.
“The member of staff gave me a brief description of ‘three smack heads’ including a small blonde-haired woman and two men. He said that one was waiting in a black taxi.
“After dropping Helen off at work, I then drove to the Esso garage and asked for some information.
“The cashier there told me that they were in a black Mercedes but she couldn’t make out whether or not it was a taxi.
“She gave me the same description as the previous garage but was unable to describe the men as they were standing out of the view of the window.
“She also told me that they had been purchasing cigarettes and scratchcards.
“In addition, I was also informed that they would liaise with the police and hand over the CCTV footage that they hold.
“Since posting the footage, I’ve had a number of people state that they think that they may know who these people are and that cars are broken into regularly within the local area by a woman and two men, one of which is usually on a bike.
“One of the cards was declined for a smaller amount yesterday morning and a taxi driver replied to the post at 7:20am to say that he’d seen two men and a woman wearing a purple tracksuit in this area a few minutes prior.
“As bad as what happened is, we’ve had a lot of support from members of the public who have replied to the post.
“The bank is looking into refunding the transactions, the garages have co-operated thus far and the thieves were unable to access the boot, which was full of football equipment I use when coaching my u17s team.
“I know it could have been a lot worse and whilst I really hope they’re known to the police and something can be done, I also know that there’s a lesson to be learnt from this, in terms of checking to see that my car is locked and installing my own home security system.”
