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Bungling police catch thief stealing £9,000 worth of tools from van – and let him drive off with them
Officers arrived to the scene after neighbours called the cops when they saw Slawek Zareba's Mercedes being broken into
BUNGLING police caught a thief red-handed raiding a plumber's van - then let him drive off with £9,000 worth of tools.
Cops were called when neighbours spotted shifty men breaking into Slawek Zareba's vehicle overnight on Saturday.
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Officers arrived and found a man loading nearly 40 boxes of gear from Mr Zareba's van into another car in Morden, South London.
But instead of nicking the thief on the spot, blundering cops had a chat with him and allowed the chancer to drive off with a car full of loot.
Tradesman Mr Zareba 42, woke the next morning to find his whole van emptied.
He now has no tools to work with and has slammed cops for letting the theft unfold in front of them. He said: "It's absolutely ridiculous what happened.
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"I can't understand what the police are playing at.
"It was 5am at the time and I was inside my house, completely unaware of what was happening.
"Instead of quizzing the thief, checking the car registration details or even knocking my door to double-check, they had a talk with him and watched as they let him waltz off into the night.
"The police haven't even apologised or been back to get fingerprints from my van or look at the CCTV.
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"I haven't been able to work since and am losing money."
CCTV footage shows the moment police arrive and speak to the thief - who has his own car boot open and a collection of Mr Zareba's tools hanging out the back.
Cops bizarrely then get back in their patrol car and drive off behind his car - only for the man to return some 30 minutes later and continue raiding the van.
The gaffe follows reports that cops are not properly investigating nearly a million reported crimes a year.
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Home Office data shows police abandoned nearly three quarters of car theft probes without identifying a suspect.
And figures show four fifths of house burglaries and nearly half of shoplifting cases go unsolved.
A Met Police spokesman said: "Police were called to reports of a vehicle being broken into in Morden, South London.
"Officers attended and found a man loading tools from a van into another vehicle.
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"The man gave an explanation for his actions and no arrests were made.
"Police later established the tools had been stolen. An investigation was launched and a warrant was executed at a property in Morden.
"A number of items were recovered.
"The suspect remains outstanding and enquiries continue."
Police video released to advise the people keep windows and doors locked despite hot weather to put off burglars
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