An expensive pram and its accessories were 'stolen' from a driveway by so-called 'scrap dealers', a dad claims. Jamie Lee had prepared the Joie Versatrax pushchair ready for his five-month-old, Chester, to be taken out for a walk.
The kit - which included a 'rockit’ baby rocker and snooze shade, costing more than £400, and the travel system costing £650 - had been prepared and left leaning against a wall outside his home in Birmingham at around 3.30pm on Sunday (September 25). The 36-year-old’s tot was then sick and needed to be changed.
Around 15 minutes after the pushchair had been left, Jamie went outside with Chester to find the pushchair missing. Jamie said it ‘looked brand new’ and clearly was not scrap.
He suspects an opportunist duo in a silver van were responsible for taking the pushchair and travel kit. Jamie said: “I was having some painting works done at my property so my partner’s mother was going to take my son for a walk to get him away from the paint fumes. At about half past three on Sunday I put the pram leaning against my wall halfway up my steps.
“It was folded and had attachments like a baby rocker as well a snooze shade attached to the pram. I walked into my house to go get my son to put him in his pram for his walk.
“We were delayed as when I picked him up he was a little sick as he had just had a feed. We changed him and went out to the pram about 15 minutes later. It was at this point we realised it had been taken.”
Jamie scoured footage from a camera owned by a neighbour in Beacon Road, which leads to Endhill Road, reports BirminghamLive. He spotted a Vauxhall van with a man and a woman inside around that time, with all the other vehicles on the footage ‘belonging to neighbours’.
Jamie contacted the police and believes the people posing as scrap collectors were responsible. He said: “I have challenged the same couple before after they walked up our neighbour's drive and tried to take some scooters and bikes that were left under the window.
“They were very pushy saying it was scrap and I had to call my neighbours as they continued to just take the stuff despite my protest. Neighbours have had bikes and scooters taken.
“This time I think they took the pram and the travel system costing around £650. Just to replace the pram is £330. We have replaced it with a second-hand one of the same make and model."
Asked what he thought of the ‘scrap’ duo suspected of stealing the pushchair off his drive in broad daylight, Jamie said: “I have had some when we had a skip who come knocked the door asking if they can look in our skip for scrap metal, which I allowed them to take.
“But this pair don't ask and will take anything they think is worth something without asking. It makes you almost worried to leave anything outside your own home for five minutes.”
Jamie added: “I have a CCTV system ready to install. But since my son has been born I haven’t had the time. We have had a lot of car thefts and a catalytic converter was stolen a few months ago with the woman threatened to not leave her house while they did it.”
A spokeswoman for West Midlands Police said: “We received a report on Sunday (September 25) of a pram being stolen from outside a house in Endhill Road, Kingstanding. Enquiries are ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to get in touch via Live Chat quoting crime reference 20/832514/22.”
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