A Dundee business owner has described would-be thieves as “low-life scum” after they were caught on CCTV carrying a crowbar and entering a vehicle outside his premises.
The pair, clad in balaclavas, were seen getting into a Land Rover outside Krypto Mapping, in West Gourdie Industrial Estate in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
The firm tunes high-performance cars and provides other specialist services for vehicles, and is owned by Joe Pullar.
The 26-year-old was alerted by an app on his phone which is connected to his CCTV system.
It showed the pair near the doors of the industrial unit, as well as inside the vehicle, which was parked outside.
Joe, who lives in Dundee, said: “It was the early hours of Tuesday morning. They basically drove along the road, parked outside a business just up from mine, got out of the car, and went into a customer of mine’s car.
“They searched the car, looking for keys or whatever — the customer had left it unlocked.
“They got into the car but obviously couldn’t start it or anything, so then came to the front of my unit, and were trying to get in the door.
‘Guy had a crowbar in his hand’
“It looked like they were just about to — the guy had a crowbar in his hand — but then my camera started recording and it spooked him off.
“They had balaclavas on, they were there at 1.20am, so this was definitely pre-planned.
“The police said it was probably targeted because of the vehicle sitting outside, which was a Land Rover, because it’s high value.
“The CCTV is connected to my phone, so it pops up giving me a message. [The cameras] are on motion sensors, but I didn’t notice until later that morning when I woke up.
“I looked at my phone —there was a notification — and thought, ‘that’s weird’, and that’s when I saw them on the footage outside the unit.
“There’s been quite a lot of car thefts in the area.
“One of my customer’s cars was stolen from Arbroath last month and set on fire. So I think it’s quite rife at the moment.
“I’ve never had an issue before until now so I’ve upped even more security now. More cameras, more locks, more sensors, I’ve got floodlights, and I’ve got a security group coming round now passing through the night, just in case.”
Joe said police officers he spoke to said they would be reviewing CCTV from other businesses in the industrial estate.
He added: “I don’t feel uneasy, I would just say that we all work so hard for nice things and to build businesses and things, and it’s just lowlife scum who think they can just come and steal people’s things.
“I just want to get the word out a bit more that there are people going about trying to steal cars in the area, because I wouldn’t want it to happen to anyone else.”
Reward offered for information
Joe has offered a reward if anyone can identify who the people in the video are.
A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: “Around 10am on Tuesday August 3, police received a report of suspicious activity that had occurred within premises at the West Gourdie Industrial Estate, Smeaton Road, Dundee around 1.20am earlier that day.
“Police inquiries continue.”
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