Spate of burglaries and attempted break-ins in Bishop’s Stortford: Did offenders use drone?
Police say it is not clear if a confirmed report of a drone being used is linked to a spate of burglaries and attempted break-ins in Bishop’s Stortford this week.
Dunmow Road resident Grant Howard posted a Facebook warning to neighbours on Monday (Oct 7): “Check your garages as six places that I know of (including mine) got broken into last night.
“I’ve just found out that the scum had used a drone that was seen at 5pm last night [Sunday], checking out the properties to target.”
Mr Howard later told the Indie that more than 10 households in Dunmow Road and side streets Elm Grove and Wayletts Drive had had their garages or sheds raided between 1am and 5am on Monday. “So many bikes have been stolen,” he said.
When the Indie approached Hertfordshire Constabulary, a spokesman said that police were aware of three reports of burglaries in Dunmow Road – including one in which a carbon-fibre bicycle was taken – one each in Wayletts Drive and Sandle Road, near the Hockerill crossroads, and an unspecified number of attempted burglaries in nearby streets between Monday and Wednesday.
In response to Mr Howard’s Facebook alert, one man said: “When we reported a drone usage in our area to the police, they showed no interest. Thanks for reminder, I'm going to raise this [with] our new MP. Police failed to take it seriously and now we see the consequences.”
A woman added on Tuesday: “There was a man on a bike last night [Monday] around 8.15pm cycling around the temporary traffic lights with a balaclava on, acting suspiciously. He was cycling between cars back and forth and then the road down towards Hockerill lights.”
The police spokesman said neighbourhood police team officers would be “engaging with the community over the next week to reassure and give crime prevention advice”.
Anyone with information can report it online at herts.police.uk/report, speak to an operator in the force communications room via online web chat at herts.police.uk/contact or call 101, quoting crime reference 41/83719/24. Alternatively, you can stay 100% anonymous by contacting Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or via the independent charity’s untraceable online form at crimestoppers-uk.org.