A clumsy thief who targeted a garage in Oldham got a nasty surprise as he tried to steal a handful of CCTV cameras.
Footage captured by business owner, David Jones, shows the moment the bandit fell off a ladder as he attempted to grab the cameras. The bungling thief even injured himself in the process, leaving behind a small pool of blood for police to analyse, Mr Jones said.
Mr Jones, who owns the MOT garage on Suthers Street in Featherstall, said the thief took five CCTV cameras in total - costing him around £3,000 to replace.
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"I’ve never seen anything like this before in my whole life," he said. "The only enjoyment I got was that while the cameras were rolling I managed to watch him fall off the ladder a few times."
The garage owner said he went to check his cameras on the morning of November 28, to check if a customer had dropped their vehicle off yet. But he wasn't able to get on to the external cameras.
"I managed to get on to a different one and when I looked back I saw that someone had been up to no good," Mr Jones said.
"Once I was down here I managed to look back at the footage until he ripped them off the wall. On the final camera he’s fallen off and hurt himself and there was quite a bit of blood on the floor so the police have been and taken some samples.
"One of the cameras was an ANPR which is quite expensive. I’ve had the cameras refitted and paid for some cages around them. I’ve also got them rigged up to my alarm so if one does get disconnected the alarm system will activate. It’s cost me £3,000."
Mr Jones says he was left shocked following the incident, and says he's never seen anyone try and steal CCTV cameras before.
"I even asked the guys who came to refit the cameras and even they were astonished that this had happened," he said. "They are quite high up he’s had to get ladders to pinch them.
"I was quite amazed how many cars were driving past and seen him with ladders and not done anything. He wasn’t shy about it. You can see on one of the pictures his eyes were bulging so I can only presume he was high on some kind of drug.
"When they did come to fit the cameras he said the ones they pinched were no longer any good because he’s cut the wire on the side of the camera so it was a bit of a pointless exercise."
Greater Manchester Police have been approached for comment.
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