Thief waved at victim as he drove off with stolen goods

Thief waved at victim as he drove off with stolen goods


Anton McNulty
antonmcnulty@mayonews.ie

A BRAZEN thief waved at his victim as he drove by her with over €600 worth of CDs he had earlier stolen from her parked car as she walked her dog on an Achill beach.
The female victim who lives in Achill but wishes not to be named was returning from a walk on Keel beach on Thursday afternoon when a man driving a Volkswagen Caddy drove past her having seconds earlier broke into her car and stole a CD wallet containing over 40 CDs.
The incident took place on Thursday afternoon at approximately 4.30pm and she said he was gone in seconds.
“I could not believe it, it happened so fast,” she told The Mayo News. “I was ten minutes at the most walking my dog on the beach and the most annoying bit was I saw the van beside my car. It is unreal how fast these guys can do it.
“I saw him pull up in the van but I was a bit away and I thought he must be going to the beach. He got out and went to his passengers side which was my driver’s side. He then left and waved at me going by and I waved back not realising he was gone with my CDs. I saw him commit the crime but did not have an idea what he was doing. It was only when I got back to my car and noticed the lock on the ground that I realised he had broken in.
“The guy was an absolute opportunist and must have thought it was a bag and not realised it was full of CDs. It is worthless to him and he probably threw it into a ditch on the way off the island. But the CD contained some of my favourite CDs worth about €600 which I will probably never see again. That is the really frustrating and annoying thing about it,” she said.
The van in question was a 2009 blue Volkswagen Caddy van and the male was described as being in his late twenties. The Gardaí were called and they explained that a screwdriver was probably used to break the lock and handle.
The victim said she never expected to get robbed in Achill and warned people to be vigilant where they park and leave nothing in the car which can be stolen.
“I could not believe it happened here in Achill. People are a bit complacent here and think it would not happen here but it did and does happen. I was only gone for ten minutes and the car was locked but these people move so fast it’s unreal. I never saw the van around before and I very much doubt he was a local person. I will probably not get my CDs back but if people are more vigilant in the future it may stop something worse happening to some one else.”
Anyone who may have noticed a blue VW Caddy van acting suspiciously around Keel and Achill on Thursday is asked to contact Achill, Newport or Westport Garda stations.

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