Warning after 18 tool vans targeted overnight
Date of alert:
Thursday, 3 March 2022
Crime Ref:
Force:
Staffordshire Police
Officers are urging tool van owners to secure their vehicles and remove valuables after a spate of thefts this week saw tools stolen.
Offenders appear to be cutting holes in doors and locks, peeling panels back and damaging windows, in order to access tools which have been stored in vans overnight.
Ford Transits, Vauxhall Vivaros and Mercedes Vitos are amongst the most commonly affected vehicles - where items such as Dewalt tools, drills, grinders and stereos have been reported stolen.
Fourteen separate incidents were reported in East Staffordshire, Lichfield and Stafford, from Monday (28 February) to Tuesday (1 March), with eight of them taking place at residential locations, five at hotels and one at a business premises.
Two incidents were reported on Tuesday (1 March) at a car park on Lichfield Road, Barton-under-Needwood where tools, including drills, grinders and hedgecutters, were stolen from two Ford Transits between 5.30pm on Monday (28 February) and 7.10am on Tuesday (1 March).
