Lightwater Police Link

Over recent weeks there had been a number of thefts from motor vehicles in the public car park behind Chobham Rider. I dealt with one case last Sunday where a lady had her handbag stolen from her vehicle whilst she was putting items into the recycling bins. She was very determined, gave chase and was able to recover her bag. I conducted some enquiries and arrested a male in Brookleys, who leapt out of a first floor window to try and evade arrest. He has been charged with four offences and other offences may be resolved when he appears at court. One of the charges related to a theft from this car park in July where he was identified via DNA left at the scene. He comes from Chobham and appears in court next week. We have been patrolling the local car parks and leaving lots of colourful notices on vehicles reminding people not to leave anything valuable inside. Please report any suspicious persosn hanging round car parks.

This month we also have a 19 year old male from Sunbury on Thames appearing at Woking Magistrates to answer charges of burglary and aggravated vehicle taking following a burglary at John Jenkins hairdressers on Chobham High Street earlier this year. At that time we had been experiencing a number of burglaries where the offenders were throwing a brick through the window and stealing the till / cash box. On this instance a witness saw the offenders speed away from the scene, they were in a stolen car, and the male was arrested by colleagues of ours from Staines Police Station as they located the vehicle and male a few hours after the offence.

I have mentioned previously about seizing vehicles being used by uninsured or unlicensed drivers. I seized two this weekend, one in Bisley and the other in Lightwater. The Lightwater vehicle was parked on the lines outside Budgens blocking the junction and his taxed expired in 2006. Not the best thing to do if you want to keep away from Police attention. I seized the vehicle and reported him for four offences to appear at court. This is great legislation as the driver / owner has 7 days to produce valid insurance at the Police Station and then a further 7 days once they have produced the paperwork to pay the recovery and storage costs or the car gets crushed.

Unfortunately we had a burglary on MacDonald Road, Lightwater on Thursday 4th between 1:30pm and 2:45pm. The offender(s) forced their way in through a door whilst the house was unoccupied and stole a television, camera, jewellery and cash. At this time we have no suspects but would urge you to report any suspicious persons or vehicles to us.

In Bisley, last week, we dealt with an untimely death in Arethusa Way but there are no suspicious circumstances. Often such incidents result in a number of Police and Ambulance staff attending and can generate local interest. Whilst it is not appropriate to divulge full details I can assure you there is nothing to worry about as I was first on scene and I was aware there were a number of neighbours taking interest. We often deal with such incidents and yesterday we had a similar call which myself and my colleague, Pc Middleton, believed was heading that way. An elderly male had not been seen for a number of days at his house on Chertsey Road, Chobham. His mail had stacked up and family had not been able to raise him on the telephone. We forced entry and found him upstairs in a very poor / unwell condition. Paramedics attended very rapidly and he was whisked up to St Peters. We spoke with them today and he has been moved from Intensive Care onto a normal ward so things are looking promising. It is nice to get such results and please do keep an eye on any elderly or vulnerable neighbours you may have especially as the days and nights get colder.

PCSO Maria Budd is trying to gather support for some youth projects in Chobham to try and get some extra facilities for the young people to use. She has been looking at getting funding from the Lottery and other sources of funds / grants. If this is something you would like to help with please call Maria on 07967 988390 and offer your support / assistance.

Whilst the following incident did not occur in the local area I would ask you to keep your eyes out for a grey Vauxhall Astra registration L635 SAE which was stolen from Crowthorne Railway Station on 4th October. At just before 5pm the same day officers were dealing with an accident on the A31 at the Shepherd and Flock roundabout in Farnham. The Astra approached the scene and Pc Higgs from Chertsey Traffic Centre indicated for it to stop. He was unaware it was stolen and was simply directing traffic. The Astra drove at him, struck him and dragged him down the road for about 40m before he fell off sustaining head injuries. He is recovering and I saw him today in Camberley and will be back on duty in the not too distant future. If you should see this vehicle please dial 999 immediately.

We have been doing speed enforcement in the villages and have been
focusing initially on Windsor Road Chobham, Guildford Road Lightwater
and Queens Road & Clews Lane Bisley. We have prosecuted numerous
motorists recently, many of whom have been local residents. We have
chosen sites that either have had accidents recently or have elderly or
young people nearby using the roads. 

Last week I was doing some enforcement on Guildford Road Lightwater when
I stopped a silver Rover for doing 46mph in the 30 limit. The driver
pulled in beside me then sped off. We located the vehicle in Bagshot a
few minutes later and he failed to stop so we pursued him to Bracknell
where he crashed. We arrested the 50 year old driver for a number of
offences. He was also wanted by Hampshire and Thames Valley Police in
connection with offences in their areas. The car was displaying
different number plates on the front and back and in the end we charged
him with 9 offences and remanded him in custody.

On the whole the villages within Surrey Heath have been relatively
burglary free. We had an incident yesterday lunch time in Bagshot where
two male offenders burgled a house and we just missed catching them.
They sped off in a car they had stolen from Yateley previously. The
registration number is NH02 FOD and it is a blue Peugeot. If you see
this car please call 999. It was last seen at high speed on Portsmouth
Road towards the Ravenswood Roundabout in Frimley.

Whilst on the subject of vehicles if you see G136 VPL a dark coloured
Ford Fiesta please call us via 999. This car has been used in numerous
thefts across the Surrey and Thames Valley area. It was involved in a
theft in Lightwater on 2nd September at the BP garage.

We are always keen to get new Neighbourhood Watch schemes up and running
and recently a new one was set up in Bisley for the South Road and
Mainstone Road areas. A very well attended meeting was held at the HMP
Coldingley Social Club. If you have any questions please do not hesitate
to call us or contact the local NHW co-ordinator Mr Mike Potter via
e-mail - mikerpotter@aol.com

Every once in a while we receive a number of calls concerning
inappropriate behaviour in car parks in the Chobham Common area.
Recently we had a call regarding a man who deliberately locked himself
into a set of stocks and was asking people to release him ! If you see
any inappropriate / lewd behaviour please call us straight away so we
can deal with these people and ensure the car parks and common areas
remain suitable for family use.

It continues to be a busy time for us. Unfortunately we are still experiencing house burglaries but these are mainly focused around the Lightwater area. You may recall from my previous e-mail we had one day with burglaries and car chases so it would appear this area is currently proving to be attractive to criminals. Accordingly if you should see any suspicious activity / persons / vehicles please do call us as soon as you can.  Use of 999 is very appropriate. We had a burglary on Guildford Road where the offender used a spade to lever open the rear patio doors and stole electrical equipment. We had another in Ambleside Road where the offenders pretended to be gardeners and stole jewellery and finally one in Springfield where the offenders forced a side door and stole jewellery. We are continuing to keep patrols up in the areas.

This week we have been checking car scrap yards in the villages under Motor Salvage legislation where we are empowered to check the vehicles and documents kept on these yards to ensure the owners are complying with the law. These visits help prevent stolen cars being passed through these yards and having their engine numbers changed.

Crime wise, other than the burglaries, it has not been too bad in the villages. However the criminals are certainly out there as colleagues from our traffic garage at Chertsey arrested four males who been braking into vehicles in the early hours and stealing cash and other valuables. They caught them just off the A322 in Knaphill in the early hours a couple of nights back. The offenders are not local and without doubt will have been looking around on our area as well. Please ensure you don’t leave valuables in your vehicle.

I am now off for a month, back July 21st, as I have some commitments in the USA however my colleagues are still around.
If it relates to Bisley or Chobham please call Maria Budd on 07967 988390 or via e-mail 11710@surrey.police.uk
If it relates to West End or Lightwater please call Pc Anna Whiteside on mobile 07967 986883, e-mail 3276@surrey.police.uk or Pc Ali Worger e-mail 2191@surrey.police.uk

Kind regards
`
Pc Ed Griffiths

Please can I ask you all to be vigilant as we have had a sudden spate of house burglaries in the villages.

On Monday between 1pm and 1:15pm a burglary occurred at a premises on the A30 at Windlesham, smashed through a front window and stole jewellery. The house owner encountered the male leaving the premises as she returned home. He is described as a white male, 5′ 8″ tall, proportionate build, with short brown hair balding on top. He was wearing a dark coloured jacket and light brown / beige trousers.

Between 3:30pm and 4pm three white males , mid 20s to mid 30s in age wearing tracksuit bottoms broke into a house on MacDonald Road, Lightwater. They were disturbed by an alarm and ran off getting into a blue Ford Focus parked nearby and sped off.

The blue Ford Focus had also been seen in suspicious circumstances at another house in Windlesham earlier in the day. However Pc Foster from our dog section saw the vehicle in Sunningdale at 4:50pm where it was apparent they were breaking into another house. The vehicle tried to make off and was pursued at speed through Sunningdale and Chobham by officers but unfortunately lost near to Castle Grove Road. The vehicle was later recovered abandoned in Horsell. The number plates were false and had been stolen from a car in London and the actual car had been stolen in Hertfordshire.

Today we attended a house on Chertsey Road, Chobham near to the junction with Brookleys at 3:15pm as a male had tried to break into the house. The offender used a common trick by ringing the door bell and knocking on the door to see if the house was occupied. The owner was actually in the garden but when he got to the door the offender had gone, only to return a few minutes later thinking the house was empty tried to force open the front door but ran off when the occupier sounded his alarm. The offender is described as a white male, in his 30s, 5′ 10″ tall, short dark hair, wearing a light coloured t-shirt, black jumper, black gloves and light coloured shorts. We were on the scene very quickly and despite the best efforts of Pc Heywood and his dog a track could not be found for the dog to follow suggesting the offender had a car parked very nearby.

Please, if you see any suspicious persons / vehicles / activity call us straight away on 999. These appear to be experienced burglars travelling all over the south of England and we would love to catch them. Often what may appear to be only a minor matter that you may think wouldn’t warrant a phone call could prove to be of vital importance leading to some good arrests.

Many thanks
Pc Ed Griffiths

Over the past week we have had a number of burglaries in the area.

Today there were two, one in Clews Lane Bisley where the offender(s) forced open a rear door and stole a TV, laptop and an IPOD. This occurred sometime between 9am and midday. The second was in MacDonald Road, Lightwater at 10:40am where entry was gained via a side door. However there was a witness to this who saw three white males involved but unfortunately not much more on their descriptions. However they were seen to leave the scene in a blue Mercedes registration T695 CRP. Enquiries are in hand with CID to deal with this offence but if you should see this vehicle please dial 999.

On Wednesday 16th sometime between 2:30am and 2:50am a Mercedes registration KP56 JWU was stolen during a burglary in Blackstround Lane East, Lightwater along with some mobile phones and watches. The owner saw the car being driven off as they were woken up by the noise and they recall seeing two white males aged 18 to 25 one of which had short blonde hair. As with the previous vehicle mentioned if you see this one please dial 999. However I will keep you updated should the vehicle be recovered and back with the owners.

At some stage between Sunday 20th and Monday 21st there was a burglary on Bagshot Road, Chobham where a variety of phones, jewellery, cards and cash were stolen. Entry was gained by forcing a rear window.

This is of course very disturbing that we have had a sudden increase and will be keeping up patrols. Today we had a team of officers in cars and motorbikes on the A322 in the Lightwater area. Cameras had been set up on Broadway Road, Lightwater looking down onto the A322. They look like speed cameras but are in fact ANPR cameras which read your number plate and anything that is stolen, used in crime or is of interest to us intelligence wise is flagged up and the officers stop the vehicle. Hopefully an increase presence will deter the offenders but it would be great to catch someone. If you see any suspicious persons or vehicles please call us asap.

We have been two a couple of accidents recently on Chertsey Road in the area around Fairoaks. They have not been serious but with the wet weather and those tight bends the causes could well be people driving too fast for the conditions. There have not been any burglaries in the village so far this month. A vehicle was broken into and a sat nav stolen in the Windsor Court area. We are dealing with a couple of incidents where a male has been abusive to a local postman out on his rounds and officers from Woking are following this up.

Speed enforcement has always been a topical issue in the village and I am now trained to use the speed cameras. Whilst the main bulk of speed enforcement is done by Pc Mark Barry, our casualty reduction officer, but I can now take the device out once in a while and do some enforcement in areas of concern raised by local residents.

Bisley has had 2 crimes so far this month. First off the football club has been targeted again, this time overnight 8th / 9th May when offenders arrived in a land rover, registration K636 HKV and used it to ram through the gates and drive up to the pavilion but nothing was stolen so they may well have been disturbed. This vehicle had been stolen the same night from a premises in Chiddingfold near Godalming.

The second Bisley crime relates to a house burglary on Clews Lane on 11th May between 1:30pm and 4pm. The offender(s) were able to force entry into the rear conservatory but were unable to get from there into the main part of the house. They left empty handed and at this stage we do not have any descriptions but our scenes of crime officers have attended.

Overnight 3rd / 4th May there was a break in at some industrial premises off Bagshot Road where two vehicles and some expensive welding and cutting equipment was stolen. The vehicles were later recovered in the Guildford area. If you should see any suspicious vehicles or persons near to farms / industrial buildings etc please let us know. Since those crimes on the 3rd / 4th no other crimes have been reported in West End. The investigation into the robberies I mentioned previously continues and I will keep you updated.

There was a theft from Budgens on Sat 12th at 4:30pm. The offenders stole meat and sped off in a black Fiat Tipo registration L476 UGK which has been involved in other thefts but unfortunately does not have a current keeper registered with the DVLA. If you should see this vehicle please call Police asap.

On Thurs 10th a vehicle was broken into in Consiton Court and paperwork was stolen. We do get people travelling into the area and breaking into vehicles as it is an affluent area and with the good local road links there of plenty of escape routes for them. Please ensure any valuables are not left in your vehicle.

On Wed 9th two persons gained entry to a house in Broadway Road claiming to be from Age Concern. The elderly couple were inside and it is despicable that people will try and trick people in this manner. At this stage it appears nothing was stolen. The two offenders are described as a white female aged around 22, slim build, light brown hair down to her ears and a flowered skirt and woolly jacket. The other was described as a white male aged 25, slim build, smart appearance, 5′ 9″ tall wearing a white long sleeved shirt with blue stripes. If you have information / sightings please call us asap. We need to catch these people and if you think you see them use of 999 is very appropriate.

You may recall from a previous e-mail I mentioned a vehicle which was stolen in West End, then used as a getaway vehicle following an incident in Chobham and later seen in Farnborough and I arrested the two occupants. We had been noticing a number of criminals from other counties coming into Surrey, committing crime and then hot footing back to where they came from. Working with Pc Mark Talbot from Hampshire Police, Mark and I set up a joint operation targeting criminals crossing the ‘ border ‘ and utilised some specialist resources to tackle the problem. We worked as a large group in the boroughs of Surrey Heath and Rushmoor over the weekend of May 4th and 5th. As a result we made 6 arrests, seized 13 vehicles and dealt with 40 persons for a variety of offences. Hopefully, if my computer skills are up to it there should be a picture attached. In addition to mobile patrols we used our ANPR team on the A30 area. ANPR is a camera / computer system which reads number plates of vehicles passing by. If any vehicles are stolen, un-insured or of interest to Police then the operator is notified in a split second and he in turn directs officers to that vehicle. Normally the officers are all on motorbikes and work in close proximity to the van and has generated some excellent results for us. The operation was a great success and working with our neighbouring Police force to jointly tackle criminals is of enormous benefit. Unlike the USA where Police are restricted by county / state borders we have powers across the country so these joint ops are very beneficial