An America’s Got Talent star who had his luggage stolen outside St Pancras Station was told by police they were ‘not responsible’ for helping retrieve his possessions.
Country singer Steve Ray Ladson had returned from a gig in Paris via the Eurostar when thieves grabbed his belongings, including his iPhone, iPad and ‘twenty years worth’ of original music, on Sunday night.
The 35-year-old was waiting for an Uber outside the central London station when a stranger began talking to him and swiped his bag ‘in a matter of 25 or 30 seconds’.
Unwilling to part with his prized possessions, Mr Ladson quickly located the thieves by tracking the devices inside his suitcase on Apple’s FindMyPhone app on .
The country star and his manager, Anastasia Myer, saw the items were nearby and called the police, hoping they would race to their aid.
But instead, the dispatcher ‘dismissed’ the incident and told the pair to call back in the morning if it wasn’t a ‘life or death’ emergency.
Ms Myer also tried to flag down a police car, informing them the luggage had been stolen, but knew where it was. She was told that since they worked for the British Transport Police, they were ‘not responsible’ and told her to call the Met Police.
As the pair grew increasingly frustrated, they decided to pursue the thieves themselves, tracking them down on three separate occasions, where they claim they saw the luggage being held by a gang of men.
Dashcam footage shared by Mr Ladson shows a group stood on the side of the road next to what appears to be the star’s suitcase and duffel bag. A second clip shows a man holding two suitcases on the pavement along a busy road.
Country singer Steve Ray Ladson had his luggage stolen outside St Pancras Station on Sunday
Mr Ladson (pictured next to Terry Crews) rose to fame on season 20 of America’s Got Talent earlier this year
Mr Ladson thought about approaching the group but feared he would ‘get stabbed or hurt’, so decided to give the police another try.
But this led to more frustration, as by the time they had given the dispatcher the necessary details and waited for officers to arrive, the gang had already disappeared.
‘We went to three separate locations which we tracked on the tracking device and had actually seen the suitcase with the gang of people that had stolen it,’ Ms Myer told LBC.
‘At each point I had called the police and given them the location, but they didn’t come until the final location, by which time it was too late and they had deactivated the tracking device.’
Mr Ladson lost several sentimental items and countless recordings from ‘twenty years worth’ of original music stored on his laptop.
He also lost parts of an upcoming song with country music icon Billy Ray Cyrus and a custom pair of America’s Got Talent cowboy boots.
He said the experience, which came just before he embarks on the final leg of his European tour, was ‘heartbreaking’ and expressed concern over the lack of officers patrolling London’s streets.
Ms Myer added that they could’ve ‘very easily’ retrieved the devices ‘if the police had been able to help at the moment’.
Mr Ladson lost parts of an upcoming song with country music icon Billy Ray Cyrus and a custom pair of America’s Got Talent cowboy boots (pictured)
Mr Ladson rose to fame on season 20 of America’s Got Talent earlier this year after receiving the ‘golden buzzer’ from singer Sofia Vergara in the quarterfinals.
He reached the finals and even captured the attention of Simon Cowell, but ultimately fell short of winning the competition, instead finishing as a runner up.
A spokesperson for the Met said: ‘Police were called at 23.58hrs on Sunday, 12 October to reports of luggage stolen outside St Pancras Train Station in King’s Cross.
‘The victim tracked the suspect on his phone and believed he had located him on Finchley Road, Belsize, at which point he called the police.
‘Officers attended the scene. They spoke to the victim and carried out a thorough search for the suspect but were unable to trace him.
‘No arrests have been made and enquiries continue. If you have any information that could help police, please contact 101 quoting CAD 7499/12Oct.’
A representative for Mr Ladson has been contacted for comment.
