A MALICIOUS delivery rider is believed to be behind a spate of car vandalism which has seen at least 20 vehicles damaged, including one fed-up couple who were left with a £6000 repair bill.
A resident in the Magdalene area of Edinburgh captured images of a Deliveroo rider apparently keying a car as he rode by and locals in the area believe the incident explains a spate of similar attacks.
Residents say that more than 20 cars across Magdalene and the neighbouring area have been left with unsightly gouges and believe the ride by rogue is to blame.
Footage of the suspect slasher has now been passed to Police Scotland who are investigating the incidents.
One couple who had their brand-new Mercedes scratched twice in the space of a month have had to fork out an estimated £6,000 to repair the damages caused by the vandal.
Diane Cameron of Magdalene Gardens and her husband were targeted by the vandal just last weekend and had previously been targeted only a month prior.
Their vehicle was left with long, deep scratches, with the damage running from the boot to the bonnet of their car.
The repair costs for the scratches were estimated at £3000 a piece, bringing the bill to a staggering £6,000.
Reporting the incident to the police Diane was left to wait for the vandal to be snared by cops, receiving an incident number.
Without a photo of the individual Diane has little faith that the individual will be captured, installing security cameras to protect their vehicle from further incidents of vandalism.
The individual previously avoided the gaze of Ring doorbells with cars parked on the street blocking him from sight.
A further incident of vandalism yesterday saw the suspected crook finally pictured when he was caught on camera by another local.
Sarah Miller, another resident of the Magdalene area, caught images of the Deliveroo rider who she believes keyed her car.
A long scratch was left on Sarah’s vehicle from front to back by the delivery rider as he rode past her house.
The images have been shared to social media with locals in uproar over the spate of vandalism perpetrated by the individual.
After residents saw Sarah’s post, several others began theorising that the same person was responsible for months worth of vandalism with dozens of cars keyed in the same area.
At least 20 other cars in the area have been vandalised in identical fashion to Sarah and Diane’s vehicles.
Police Scotland have been made aware of the incidents and are working to track down the perpetrator.
Posting to social media Sarah said: “Absolute scum of the earth. That’s my car been done. That’s about 14 cars in my area.”
Speaking today the Camerons said: “It’s here and the Christians (sic), which is the opposite side of Milton Road, ours has been done twice.
“December when we had just got the car. Then it was done last weekend.
“I was on the phone to the Police last night, I just said to them ‘they’ve now got a picture of the guy that’s done it, but how do you prove that it’s him?
“The only reason I got in touch with the police was basically to prove that it’s been an act of vandalism but also when I heard all the other cars are getting done, I thought they will eventually get the person.
“That’s what the police said to me last night, if and when he’s caught, he will hopefully admit to others.
“He’s obviously not been caught for our car, but he might get caught for other ones and then admit to doing the others.”
When asked about the repair costs the couple said: “The first time the car went away for a week, and this time they’ve come here but it will take all day to fix it.
“I don’t know, a couple of grand, brand-new Mercedes three grand plus I would reckon, per incident.
“The guy across the road, he’s got a BMW, he’s had his done but months and months ago.”
The pair went on to explain the measures they were taking to help put a stop to the vandalism: “We’ve got the Ring doorbell, but we’ve got three cars in the house, two cars are in the drive and my husband’s car is in the road.
“It was the driver’s side which was facing the road so the Ring wouldn’t have picked that up, now we’ve had to resort to getting a camera upstairs now, we’ve had to go out and get that which is shocking.
“Somebody had said that they thought, before they got the pictures of the guy, that they were going on one of those e-scooter things, but obviously he’s maybe on a push bike.”
Residents allege that the individual is committing drive-by keyings, riding past cars parked on the road and scratching them with a sharp object as he goes.
Other residents have reported similar incidents with a cyclist carrying a Deliveroo bag spotted on numerous occasions in the affected area of the capital.
Police Scotland have been contacted for comment.
Deliveroo have been contacted for comment.
