The evening after the car went missing, I had almost resigned myself to saying good bye to Imprezas and the SIDC for good. Could I really be bothered with all this hassle, why don't I just buy a non descript off roader or something to plod about in. I have decided not to do that in part because of the genuine enthusiasm and helpfulness of other owners borne out by the number of responses to the original thread "RB5 stolen......". I can't imagine any other marque having such a unique following, which makes being part of the "club" a pleasure.

The story goes that the car was driven to Birmingham. I am not quite sure of the exact timing and sequence of events but The West Midlands police assumingly looking for the car raided a number of garages known to them and found the car with 5,000 cigarettes in the boot. To cut a long story short, as the car was being recovered onto a low loader by the Police the thieves turned up at the garage in a blue Citreon Saxo, clocked what was going on and scarpered. The Police think that the car was to be used as a quick getaway car for future jobs. Later the blue Saxo was seen following the transporter back to the the police garage, and believe it or not the thieves were caught attempting to steal the car back from the police garage. Five youths are now in custody. The car has subsequently been moved again for security reasons, but I believe finger printing etc has been undertaken.

Norwich Union are now recovering the car to a body repair workshop, but apparently there is no external damage to the car at all, apart from a broken drivers window caused by the police to gain access. The stereo has been nicked along with most of the car contents. They left my skid lid (having a big head pays sometimes), but they apparently have ripped all the head lining out trying to find a tracker device which the car doesn't possess. I haven't seen the car myself yet but will do so tomorrow.

In the interest of banging the thieves to justice it would be useful if we can place the youths at Donnington during the course of the day, and or driving my car. I have already indicated to the police that we might have photographs or video footage so I look forward to hearing further if anyone has picked up something that they think might be of use. Did anyone see a blue Citreon Saxo for example? With police consent I will post a contact address and number for the officer dealing with the case.

What I find more alarming is that the Police consider Donnington a hot spot for car crime and there is no warning to this effect. Apparently loads of cars and other items have gone missing from the circuit. The police mentioned three BMWs stolen in one day. Apparently thieves stole the Silverstone Nissan Skyline pace car with blue flashing lights mounted on the roof, which has yet to be recovered. The police reckon that it takes these kids 15 minutes to steel a car from Donnington and have it parked up in Birmingham, and apparently the Police are not permitted to pursue Imprezas in their T5s, as they can't keep up anyway. If this is the case why is security so lax at the circuit, and why for example are we not informed of the potential hazards. I wonder how many members left tools and wheels unattended in the garages, or their cars ticking over with the keys in the ignition? I for one am not inclined to attend a Donnington Track day again, unless security has been substantially reviewed. Furthermore it is not inconceivable to think that someone could have been killed by reckless driving in such a confined space.

Thanks again for the assistance.

Cheers

Steve

MTR

[This message has been edited by MTR (edited 17 September 2000).]

That is such a result Steve, great news mate.

Steve

Being a fellow RB5 WR owner I was very sorry to hear this whole tale, as I know many Impreza owners were.

I was at Donnington but left early.

At least the police have those responsible and perhaps the justice system will work.

I know this is no real consolation for you but hang in there mate.

Cheers

Steve

Conratulations! I do hope that the damage to your car is none too severe. I do agree with your comments re security at Donno. Last year a BMW trackday 2 bimmers were nicked and I know whats going thru your mind.

Just glad that the bandits have been caught and trust that they'll be dealt with accordingly, but something tells me they will be bail and just do another job of nicking yet another car.

Steve,

As you were typing the above post, I was posting on the other thread which basically says the same thing happened to me two years ago by the same gang.

The security at Donington is better now than ever before, but the event was open to the public, not private; and with so many people around it would be near impossible to security check everyone. One way around this is to only have the track cars allowed into the circuit and no others, because we could issue drivers with a personalised invite. But then the atmosphere of having 150+ cars would be lost.

Rob.

Great to hear it's still in one piece. http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/smile.gif.

How about having appointed 'car sitters' for those people without turbo timers?

Chris.

Steve

Although the whole situation is not one you will consider to be lucky or good news, I'm really pleased for you that the car is in fairly good condition and will be back in your posession shortly.

Regards

Simon

Glad to here

I took some limited footage on my video camera I ll have a look what am I looking for ??

Steve...

both good news and bad.

Good...

good that they found your car.

good that they probably have the little gob$hites that took it without concent or care for anyone

good they'll probably go down for it cos its not the first time

good that they didn't kill anyone

good that folks my have video footage of them to help with the police enquiries.

Bad...

bad that it happened in the first place

bad that it made you feel about leaving the scooby way of life

bad that they ragged the crap out of it up the motorway

bad that the law can't keep up with the little buggers than nicked it in the T-5...but I guess it would have been dangerous to provoke them to drive faster.

Please keep us all informed about what happens.

Ian

Sorry to here about the theft and subsequent damage to your Scooby.
I had my MY96 stolen from my driveway about 18 months ago. Didn't hear a thing. Had alarm and immobilisr fitted. No barrier to the determined thief!
Car turned up a few days later written off in a ditch in deepest Ayrshire. The driver at the time accepted a lift from someone staying nearby who took him home and was later able to give the police his whereabouts. Hoorah justice will be done....not!
Upshot of it all was a court appearance for driving without insurance and while banned. Sentence was £500 fine and a further ban!!
Who says crime doesn't pay.
By the way, Steve, don't be tempted to get a something other than a Scooby, if the car is a goner. I made the mistake of getting an ST24, a very expensive mistake. Back with a MY99 now and couldn't be happier.
Hope all goes well and damage isn't too bad

The bad news is that there is no certainty that they will be remanded in custody! http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/mad.gif

However the handling stolen goods i.e. cigs may just do it for them! http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/mad.gif

The recklessness of their escape must be brought home to the magistrates!

Then they might get more than an attendance center for a couple of saturdays.........bring back hanging by the short and curlies!

BTW they probably peruse this BBS for information http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/eek.gif

Come on Scum make my Bull-dogs day........ooops my 22B is still knackered and is not going any where! http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/frown.gif

Steve

Great news. Hope the damage is not too much.

Tim

Steve,

Glad to hear you have your car back.

I am having my car returned from the bodyshop this coming weekend after it was stolen/taken to brimingham etc. In January.

Funnily the car was found to have 80 cigarettes in the glove box.

The damage to my MY97 came to £2.8K which included a full (apart from roof) respray and new door skin (drivers door). Lock set /keys. Also a dashboard repair. The interior was filthy.

The car will be winging its way to a dealers soon to be traded in for something mudane and boring. http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/frown.gif

The police recovered some fingerprints from the fag packets, hopefully these will match those of the scum envolved with your car theft. There was also a section of what looks like a fire grate (the bit the wood sits on) about 6 inches by 5 http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/confused.gif http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/confused.gif

Hope all goes well when you have your car returned.

J Jones

Steve

Glad to hear you're cars been found.

Hope you get it all sorted out quickly.

Simon

Steve

Glad to hear your car has been recovered in not too many pieces.
Good news you have decided to stick with us.

It's a pity we can't invite them along to be *introduced* to us all next time.

Regards , John

Steve:

I'm glad to hear the thieving ba$tards have been caught and the damage is not too excessive, although I'm sure the car will never be the same again http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/frown.gif I agree with Anders, string-em up by their balls. All they'll get is a slap wrist. Second thoughts, no they won't, thats assault!!!

Me, I'm a sceptic. If it can happen it will. The guys from Tyres of Northampton looked bemused when I locked up my road tyre/alloys!! But thats the world we live in.

Good luck and I hope your're back on the road soon and confidence restored.

I'm so happy that it's managed to be recovered. Esp since the crims are now in custody. It may be worth having the car seriously looked at mechanically as God knows what they would have done to it.
I friend of mine had her 1.4 escort taken(why?) and it was then recovered. However the engine had been scragged and the insurance refused to pay out on fixing it.
I suspect if you have it inspected(turbo et al) at the same time as the bodywork is inspected then things will run a lot smoother with the insurance company. BTW would they have paid out if the car had not been recovered?

It's so good to hear the police doing a good job and not the usual 'Why do me for speeding, why don't you go and catch some real criminals'. Well this time they did!

Words are never enough. Put their knees over a kerb and jump on them. My heart go out to you Steve. If you scumbags do read this then I hope you die soon.

....slowly and painfully under the watchfull eye of their parents

How about videoing everbody on the way in? Judt a 5 sec shot of each person in a car, then we would have everones (in a car or pedestrian) mug on a tape to be used in the event of a theft. This would be a great detterant, especially used in conjunction with some of the other ideas.

Personally I don't think we should go as far as to exclude any cars from the paddock.

For the next event, just tell security not to let anyone out unless they have green, or whatever colour they are on the day, wristbands on. I would also mention that the scum had to get out quick as it was a very visible theft, holding them for 30 seconds at security would probably have been long enough for Stef and others to catch up so maybe tell them to force anybody leaving to wait a bit?
I don't know whether the guard lifted the barrier or not but they must have been prepared to hit it if he hadn't, maybe they should invest in a more robust device?

[This message has been edited by ALANB (edited 07-03-2000).]

I didnt have a wristband on ? nor did many others that were neither passengers or drivers, that may not be possible but there are other options.

Steve - very good news - hope they do get punished properly

I think Mikes idea is good - but is it feasible? If someone from the club (such as Ian) were prepared to take a digital camera along then you could snap everyone as they came in - but that's not easy at Donnington - especially as people turn up at all times of day. I guess that these gangs rely on people not really paying attention at events where there are a hundred people who dont really know each other....in hindsight it would probably be fairly easy to spot the scum...

I find it surprising that the police dont mount some sort of 'watcher' campaign at track days if this is becoming very popular....

p.s. JohnS - your piccys aint workin!

I was sad to read your original thread, but it's this one that makes the train of events sound all too familiar.

To cut a long story short, I suffered a similar fate with an RSTurbo I had a number of years ago (they used mine to cart away the proceeds of all the other robberies), and like you, I had begun to wonder why I should endure the agro of owning a car that would be coveted by scumbags.

At the end of the day it doesn't matter what you own, or what security devices you install. If someone wants your car badly enough, they'll take it! So you might as well drive what you want, but just be a little more cautious. If I had thought otherwise I wouldn't be driving an Impreza now, I'd be driving a Mondeo or Vectra. Surely that's more than the mortal soul can bear!

Cheers

Josh

Hey Anders..

Use my blue "handbag" on the little barstewards !!

And then set Hector on them http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/biggrin.gif

Richard

More photos here which may or may not help.

Steve

Great news on the recovery of your car and the thieves being caught. I hope that the damage isn't too bad and that you remain an impreza owner. Being a fellow RB5 (non WR) owner and being 2 garages down from you I really felt for you - this sort of thing ruins the day for everyone.

I agree with sorting the security at Donnington, there must be something that can be done. Also I now feel the need for soem sort of anti-hijack security device, if anyone got any ideas/experience email me.

Kind regards

Julian

I can`t help but conclude that the security at Donnington are in on the car thefts, or are simply too scared of the gangs who organise it.

Its not a nice thing to say but I know but....