Detectives are appealing for information in connection with a house burglary in Westcliff in which criminals stole a car before later crashing it.
Thieves forced their way into a house on Grosvenor Road sometime between 3pm on Monday, 26 July and 2am Tuesday, 27 July and stole the keys to a Toyota which were on show near the front door.
The car was then taken from outside the house and was then involved in a road crash shortly after 2am on Tuesday on Ruskin Avenue in which it struck a wall. Regardless of this, the thieves continued on their way where they then struck two parked vehicles on East Street.
They then ran off towards Prittlewell Railway Station, leaving the car to be recovered by police.
The technique - known as a ‘millenium burglary’ in which burglars break into a house to steal car keys and leave with the car - has become popular among criminals over the past decade.
Investigating Officer, Pc Craig Davis, said: “The owners only realisd their car had been stolen when we contacted them after the collisions. During the course of our initial enquiries, we know that quite a few people saw the burglars run off the from the crash scene. We would like these witnesses to get in touch with us so that we can obtain a description of the criminals and arrest them before they strike at someonelse’s house.”
A police dog attended the scene, but was unable to track the scent of the thieves. Detectives will be looking to see if the original burglary and subsequent collisions have been captured on CCTV.
Anyone with information in connection with this burglary is urged to contact investigating officers at Southend police station on 0300 333 4444.