An Erith mother warned other drivers after coming home from a walk and discovering that gasoline had been stolen straight from her car.
Jenni Turner, 34, left her Ford Fiesta car parked in her driveway while out walking her five-year-old son George at around 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, September 26.
When she returned home around 6.30 p.m., a black car “sped” past her – “unusually fast” for a small residential street.
Jenni, who drives to work in her car as a childminder, noticed gas spilling out of the bottom of her car and then saw two holes being drilled in her gas tank.
She told the News Shopper, “I think when we got home George had bothered her on his bike because there were three men there, and as we approached the getaway driver just sped around the corner.
“I usually never thought of looking at my car, but I did and all I saw was gasoline coming out of the ground.
“Two holes had been drilled in my gas tank and when we looked at my neighbor’s video surveillance, we saw that there was a bucket under my car to hold the gasoline.
The fire brigade filled the holes to prevent more gasoline from leaking out
“I even tried to park right next to my garage so people couldn’t take it.”
Jenni had filled her car with a full tank the day before and had spent over £ 50 on the fuel.
She worries that she has been persecuted since then.
Jenni explained, “I could have been followed, but I was out for about four hours during the day when my house was empty, so this would have been a better opportunity, so maybe it wasn’t.
“The fire department thought it was just a coincidence, but it was also a man who cleared the garage in the house next to us the day before.
“He jokingly asked me if I had managed to get gasoline, and I bragged that I had just refueled.
Mama Jenni works as a childminder and drives to work
“He would joke with his friends and maybe it was nothing, but now I just think of all the people I told I managed to get gasoline.”
Jenni had to file an insurance claim to repair the damage, with the entire job costing more than £ 800.
She has no choice but to pay the surplus herself, as she “needs” her car for work.
Jenni said, “I don’t know how much gas you got, but my tank was empty because the rest of it ran out.
“The firefighters put what looks like two large pieces of chewing gum in the holes to hold the rest in place before my car is properly repaired.
The fire department surrounded Jenni’s car with sand because the gasoline had leaked on the floor
“Meanwhile, my family had to help me get me to and from work.”
Jenni said the firefighters told her they looked into similar incidents “all day” and that her engine was full of sandbags to put on gasoline on the ground.
She also said that her friend, who works in the police force, was inundated with radio messages about brawls at gas stations.
Jenni added, “Just be aware and move your car.
“Put them under cameras or whatever you can do because people managed to do this to me in broad daylight.”
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said:
“After evaluating the available evidence, it was determined that there was no realistic prospect of identifying a suspect.
“The victim has been informed and the case is now closed.
“If there is further evidence, this decision can be reviewed.”
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