A CROOK has been caught on camera senselessly destroying a homeowner’s electric vehicle charging station, causing hundreds of pounds worth of damage.
Luca, who runs his own business, has lived in St John’s Road, Colchester, for seven years and says he has never before experienced any trouble.
Last Friday at 5.40pm, however, a hooded man strolled onto his driveway before approaching his expensive electric car charging point.
In footage sent to the Gazette, the delinquent is then seen viciously yanking its lengthy charging cable across the forecourt, as passing motorists drove by.
After failing to completely detach the long wire from the station, the man soon gives up and then casually walks off down the road, seemingly in no rush to flee the scene.
As a result of the vandalism, Luca says he will now have to fork out £250 in order to repair the charging point, which can cost as much as £1,000 to install.
“It is horrible when you see these things and so my opinion [of this person] cannot be nice, but I have reported it to the police,” he added.
“Unfortunately it is difficult for me to understand why they would do this. I believe he is a local guy and I think I have seen him around St John’s Road before with his dog.
“I cannot say much to be honest as I have my family to protect but hopefully he will be caught and receive the right punishment.”
Since publishing video footage of the criminal damage online, Luca has been contacted by at least one other victim who says the same thing happened to him.
He was apparently informed of an increase in crooks now looking to pinch electric car charging cables due to them being worth up to £100.
Veteran Colchester councillor Mike Hogg, who also lives in St John's Road, says he is baffled by the incident.
He said: "It is unbelievable really and it just seems like mindless vandalism.
"What was he hoping to achieve? It is very worrying though that he was so brazen.
"We got broken into a couple of years back in the afternoon when three guys decided they wanted to come into our house.
"I sit in my front room looking out the window on occasions and there is such a large number of people who walk up and down our road 24/7.
"So I will be shocked if nobody saw him."
Anyone with information should call Essex Police on 101 quoting crime reference number 42/16098/23.
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