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Friday morning 5am three guys did a ram raid attack on my garage. My alarm when off and I was at the bottom of the garden within seconds. I ended up chasing one of them down the lane screaming while getting hit with a pipe. Adrenalin is a hell of a drug!
Car was torched minutes later 2 roads away. I ended up in A&E.
Taking them on was a stupid idea and could have ended much worst. I had assumed they would bugger off once challenged but they really wanted my bikes (this was their third attempt).
Stay save everyone and its not worth getting hurt over.
How did they get a car in there? Maybe stick something solid in between the gate and the garage once you get it repaired
Bloody hell, that's scary.
Heal quick - and next time don't go after them.
Blimey. That's a serious attempt. Glad you are OK.
They stole an old Corsa just for this job and reversed it into the door (2 attempts).
Get some annuals in that planter.
Hope you heal up quick. I can see a handlebar on one of the pictures hopefully they didn't get the bikes? Did they get caught?
wow. You really had the door secured well but ram raid is another level
Sounds like organised crime.
Omg that's bad, clearly desperate people. Whereabout are you?
Not an expert on such things but i would be surprised for serious bike thieves to **** someone over the head. Because that surely brings much more heat than a failed bike theft and run away.
Doesn't look like you need car access to the ped door so consider a planter on he other side and create a chicane. You can also reinforce the bedding joints in the wall when you rebuild.
Bristol. BS6.
After this thinking of making it easier to break in and just have better insurance.
Looks like you need a strategically placed bollard.
Glad you scarded them.off and didnt get too badly hurt, varmits.
Fair play for having a go. The pipe reminds me of this....
Blimey that’s bad, hope you’re not hurt too bad dogbone. Heal up quick fella.
Presumably the Police are now actually taking an interest as it is not just burglary, but assault,(gbh/abh?), stealing a vehicle, breaking and entering, and probably a few motoring offences. Considering the low life could have killed you with a direct hit on the side of your head, I’d hope the Police are taking it very seriously.
There really are some ****'s about!
Seems weird that they were so desperate to get at your bikes to try 3 times. I'm guessing from that they are reasonably local and have an idea of what's in there.
Hope you aren't too damaged and healing doesn't take too long for you.
Take care and watch out when you're up and riding again.
Adrenaline does weird things but not sure my bikes are worth a beating.
Be very interested how the Police treat this, it's a step up from a "regular" bike theft.
Do you play cricket? Baseball ? Ice Hockey ? Or gawd forbid, golf ? Or have particularly hard-to-remove wheel nuts on the car ? If not, do so - then you can have a legitimate reason to have a bat / club / 2ft long breaker bar, coincidentally right to hand in the porch or near the back door, when you go out.
Maybe time to take up grouse shooting?
Clucking bell! What absolute asshats. Hope you make a swift recovery and can deal with the mind side of things.
How long have you had the security door? It seems a strangely accurately targeted attack.
Heal soon,
Making it easier to break in seems like it might be better for your health in the future.
That and having some cheap bikes that aren't worth coming back for the 5th time
Or even ice climbing
Nah ice axes have teeth to stop them coming loose. One accurate hit and you are effectively disarmed.
Over the last three years;
The first attempt they broke a window, set off the alarm and buggered off over the fence.
The second attempt they unbolted a roof panel. Only to find out I have ply lined the ceiling.
The third attempt they took an angle grinder to the hinges to the rear door. They had cut through just one before waking a neighbour and were told to do one.
I had assumed that by making as much noise as possible they would just run off. I think as they had invested soo much in this attempt they held their ground. I didn't try and hit anyone of them, I just kept advancing while screaming **** off, police, help etc. I've got four stitches to the head, a left hand I can't close and some impressive bruises to the body.
I could have just as easy lost an eye or got run over. If I'd had a bat and damaged one of them, what would the other two have done? Would I be the one the police would want to talk to if one of them is in a coma? Reasonable force only isn't it?
Police have an idea of who it could be -based on it was three on them and their general space / height - and have been supportive.
Anyway time to get on with life and wait for Aviva to sort their shit out.
Afew years back, a mate's garage was targeted - in hindsight the scum had sussed out where it was, that there were pricey bikes to he had, probably tailed him home at some point previously.
6 bikes (as a few if us were staying with him for the weekend) in Yorkshire. Luckily recovered by sheer chance that the rossers drove through the village at 5am and saw someone pushing a bike towards the edge of the village (to the van with several more already in the back). All matching wheels to bikes correctly etc despite the wheels being off the bikes when put in the garage.
Holy smokes!
So sorry to hear that you got hurt.
and that’s a crazy level of commitment for bike thieves. You have way more secure bike storage than anyone I’ve ever heard of.
Usually when I hear bike thefts, it’s that they were sitting outside, or on the back rack of a parked car, unlocked, or with a cable lock.
I know easier said than done....but sorry OP I'd move. I couldn't be living somewhere that had that level of persistent crime.
Nicking a car to ram raid a domestic garage for 2nd hand pushbikes is extreme/desperate/lawlessness or just because you stayed one step ahead of them each time?
Nah ice axes have teeth to stop them coming loose. One accurate hit and you are effectively disarmed.
Got to use the adze but probably not easy on a modern curved tool.
I would like to think I'd have gone full mortal Kombat on them.
FATALITY!
Here's to you healing well and not suffering any further events.
Christ on a bike. Rest up and recover, OP
Sorry to read this OP. Healing vibes.
I'm slightly shocked no one's pointed out the state of the grass around the door 🙂
Anyway, what everyone else has said - get another planter, and get well soon! Going after them clearly wasn't the best idea - in hindsight - but with the adrenaline flowing I can certainly see how I would have done something similar.
That's insane. So much effort to go to considering you say they aren't particularly special bikes. Stealing a car, ram raiding a garage and then beating a bloke with a pipe. They must have no regard for any consequences (legal or physical) whatsoever. I honestly had no idea that this sort of thing happens to regular folk in normal residential properties.
Hopefully you recover quickly, I really feel for you. Such an awful experience.
Have you considered moving house? Because I'd be gone if we were being targeted so persistently by such motivated, violent criminals.
Heal up soon dude, must've been horrible.
I'm not intending to move and am quite 'ok' with things. It wasn't a random fight in a pub / mugging in the street. It was targeted and now their cost / benefit will kick in. They now know the police are taking serious interest in them and that my bike are locked to the wall (and aren't that expensive).
Thanks for all the kind words.
Shocking. Glad you're relatively ok.
Thanks for all the kind words.
I hope mine were taken in the spirit they were intended. But your grass definitely does need sorting 😀
Heal quick.
That downpipe bracket on the wall could come off. It's only two screws.
My garage has been targeted twice. Once was a crap attempt at hacksawing the hasp lock that caused the door to 'flex' and bang, waking me. The other was removing a pane of glass from a side window very carefully, but it was already barred from the inside with roofing bars, so not fast to cut. I upped security both times, but a ram raid is something else.
Reasonable force only isn’t it?
AIUI "reasonable" is based on your own perception of the threat you are under at the time you act in your defence. Hence aggressive burglars have been killed and no criminal action taken.
Not at all recommending going down that route though.
That's pretty shitty 🙁
I broke into my own garage by mistake once when I crashed my motorbike into the door. I was fairly disappointed with how little force it took.
Smoke bombs and pepper spray should be setup for further attempts though last thing you need is to accidentally set them off retrieving your bikes from garage.
Heal rapidly and recover well.
Wow what a scary experience. Whereabouts in bs6? I'm probably quite local to you. Hope you get yourself and your garage mended quick. And hope they catch the bastards!
Bloody hell and bs6 is just around the corner from me !!! …. Get well soon
Not cool. Get well soon.
>Whereabouts in bs6?
It seems unlikely that OP will dox himself further.
After this thinking of making it easier to break in and just have better insurance.
This is my approach, I am also with Aviva so do let me know how your claim goes!
OMG
You were so brave and none of us know what we would have done in those circumstances. Mend soon and I hope the police catch the B*****ds.
That's horrendous. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.
Adrenalin is a hell of a drug!
Its easy for me to say (from the comfort of my office and not 'in the moment') but I'd not consider taking on anyone who was breaking into or stealing my posessions. However, I'm unsure how that'd pan out in reality once that adrenaline kicked in.
Heal quickly pal. If you wont consider moving i would definitely be looking into getting a dog or two. A couple of staffies would make scum like this think twice.
I wonder if the people having a pop at you for getting stuck in have ever faced a situation like this, where instinct takes over.
Happened to me once, saw someone trying to open the kitchen window from the outside (I was inside looking out) and gave chase. They got away as I was too slow out of the building and just had to guess at the junction which way they'd gone, but yes did it without thinking. It's only heading back to the house you think 'what would I have done if I had caught them?'
Unlike the OP though there was only one of them. I did back down and reverse away when confronted by two guys in a road rage incident though, odds were less good. Hopefully the OP has made them realise he's not an easy target and they won't try again.
Heal up quick OP.
Going after them may have been the wrong thing in hindsight but you've got a vague description of them and the fact they work as a trio.
Hopefully adding assualt to their crimes has given the police something to go after and they end up off the streets.
I've said this before but the worst thing about these scum is the absolute financial inefficiency of their work. Even if they were successful they've stolen and written off a cheap but functioning car, done damage to the garage that will take days of work to put right; all to steal 3 bikes which will fetch them how much on the second hand market - and then split 3 ways. Thousands of pounds out of the pockets of everyone who insures with Aviva, and they would have got more money if they had done a full shift of minimum wage.
Hope you heal fast. That's an impressive door. Mercifully I was asleep when mine was broken into and never felt the adrenaline rush (until filling out the insurance claim). Best bike indoors? Helmet and scaffolding pole at the ready for next time? Ear-splitting alarm? Bird scarer shotgun blanks? Real shotgun?...
It’s only heading back to the house you think ‘what would I have done if I had caught them?’
I guy I know did catch the gentleman stealing his motorbike (3rd or 4th time he'd either had it stolen or damaged in an attempt to steal it). Apparently the police accepted his explanation that the gentleman had fallen over and hurt himself.
(He was well known to the police and had been arrested, prosecuted and sentenced to short prison terms several times prior to this.)
He did end up having to move, the area he lived in was not the best... OK, it was a dump (rough end of Derby).
Bloody hell man, that's terrible. Glad you're not seriously hurt.
BS6, that's St George sort of area? I'm BS4 and we have had increasing levels of crime here over the past few years. I've given up caring now and if stuff gets stolen then so be it. I'm not about to challenge anyone in the act. I used to really stick up for Bristol when friend would say it's a dodgy city, but I'm finding it hard to not agree with them now.
In the past 5 years we've had
-one person stabbed and bled to death at the bottom of the lane which accesses our house
-neighbours garage door peeled back at 6pm on a weekday night and bike taken
-16 year old boy beaten up on my literal doorstep by a gang of balaclava wearing youths
-my work van broken into 4 times
Heal quickly pal. If you wont consider moving i would definitely be looking into getting a dog or two. A couple of staffies would make scum like this think twice.
😀
They're just the worst dogs for security detail. Mine would be off with the burglars, all they'd need to do is give him a little fuss. He was leaving with the Amazon delivery driver the other week, all he did was smile at him and give him a quick stroke, useless 😀
Dammit, not so good and very glad you are ok. Hope you heal up good and the police can find the scrotes.
Also, BS6? I used to live up that way (above Montpellier) when i was working in town. St. Pauls was a bit crappy in places, but it was changing (for the better I thought).
It’s Redland and I have a dog. She was fast asleep and really not interested. If they had dressed as postmen she’d have gone for them.
Feeling a bit twitchy tailed today and not sleeping great. Builders ‘should’ be here later / tomorrow to board up back of garage.
😀
They’re just the worst dogs for security detail. Mine would be off with the burglars, all they’d need to do is give him a little fuss. He was leaving with the Amazon delivery driver the other week, all he did was smile at him and give him a quick stroke, useless 😀
Aye thats true. I suppose you could go the other way. I have a couple of schnauzers and they make an ungodly amount of noise. But they would be defeated by a single sausage i fear.
As a fellow Bristol resident (BS5) this stuff scares the crap out of me. Living in a terrace with no garage/shed, my only bike lives in the house. Not sure if that's better or worse.
It does seem odd though. I generally think that STW (and enthusiasts generally) have hugely different ideas of what constitutes a 'nice' or 'expensive' bike. We see something like a Sonder Camino as a good value, mid ranger, and they see A TWO THOUSAND POUND BIKE!!one
But on the other hand, you hear about these 'thefts to order' or whatever, and if people are going to go to the extreme lengths here, they seem to know exactly what they're after. As someone said, it's a lot of risk and effort for the chance of getting, what, a few hundred quid each?
****ers.
OP, I hope you're feeling better soon, and good luck with the hassle of the insurance and whatnot.
Seems to be lots of bike crime. On a sportive, it went up a few hills local to home. On one of the lamposts it said 'don't go riding your expensive bikes around here as there have been gangs on motorbikes taking them - FFS it's a couple of miles from my house !
In my town there's a British Transport Police office about 50 feet away from the bike racks where bikes are regularly stolen.
Police are clearly no deterrent so are failing to help prevent crime, and are regularly exposed as failing to investigate property crime, burglaries etc. Taxpayers aren't getting value for money, police resources need to be focussed where the customers require them.
In London high end bikes are stolen by Albanian gangs and shipped to Russia where they fetch higher prices due to the import sanctions, so also a political borders/immigration issue here.
Taxpayers aren’t getting value for money
Funny how when you brutally cut Police numbers, and things like Surestart centres, crime starts to go up a few years later? 🤔
Funny how when you brutally cut Police numbers, and things like Surestart centres crime starts to go up a few years later
Correlation isn't evidence of causation. Except when it is.
He did end up having to move, the area he lived in was not the best… OK, it was a dump (rough end of Derby).
You're going to have to narrow it down more than that!
Have you considered moving house? Because I’d be gone if we were being targeted so persistently by such motivated, violent criminals
Massive cost/cashflow and would likely need to be disclosed in pre contract enquiries.
A lot easier said than done I fear.
"In London high end bikes are stolen by Albanian gangs and shipped to Russia where they fetch higher prices due to the import sanctions, so also a political borders/immigration issue here"
What's your source for those allegations?
The same as you climate change denial bollocks?
https://road.cc/content/news/cyclists-urge-police-presence-bikejacking-hotspot-306883
A quick Google turns up a few reports.
I'm guessing the heavy duty door attracts as much as it deters, kinda says there's something well worth nicking behind me, I'd get a couple of those cages you fill with rocks as makeshift bollards, maybe take up Archery and have a target on the garage, pretty sure it's totally legal to own a bow and arrows and practice on your own private land, even in the middle of the night 😁
****ing hell, op......!
My biggest sympathies going your way.
Had bike stolen from our basement on the second night in the new flat. They took the GF's 1k Boardman as opposed to my tricked out DB Alpine no idea what I would have done if I'd caught them.
I wonder if the people having a pop at you for getting stuck in have ever faced a situation like this, where instinct takes over.
Mate of mine in Köln/Cologne had his bike taken from a petrol station when he went inside to buy some smokes. He saw the guy grab his bike and ride off. He gave chase, but didn't say anything, chasing the guy several hundred metres until the guy turned into an alleyway. There matey caught up with him and decked him with a punch to the head and proceeded to kick the living wotnots out of the guy. His new Nike trainers were red. He ended up burning the shoes, but at least he had his bike back.