Countywide Car Parts Theft - Warning

Posted on March 12, 2014

Detectives undertaking a countywide investigation in to the theft of car parts are warning motorists to take extra care when they park their vehicles.

Operation King, a dedicated initiative to crackdown on those who steal vehicle parts from high performance vehicles, such as Astra, Corsa and Insignia VXRs, in the county has been running for a number of months. Dedicated officers have been working to arrest those people who trade in stolen parts with eight commercial and residential addresses being searched and five men being arrested so far.

Work is also being undertaken by the team to gain a better understanding of the market for these stolen car parts and police have recovered several tens of dozens of stolen parts during enforcement activity.

Detective Chief Inspector Ian Middleton, said: "Identification of recovered parts is on-going but we are very keen to have any relevant information from the public, either directly to the Force or through Crimestoppers to help us tackle this on-going problem. We are particularly interested to hear about any outlets where suspected stolen parts are being traded." 

He continued: "The public can also assist us by property marking their items using any of the commercially available property marking products, which may help us to identify stolen parts and to bring offenders to justice more rapidly. If your vehicle is fitted with an alarm than please make sure you use it whenever you park your vehicle, and if possible, park your car in a well lit area. The reduction of vehicle crime has been a long-standing priority for Bedfordshire Police and the loss and disruption caused to victims clearly illustrates why this type of crime is taken so seriously by us."

Anyone with information relating to this type of crime can contact Bedfordshire Police on 101, or text information to 07786 200011.

Alternatively contact the independent crime fighting charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.